For World Ocean Day 2009 today, TreeHugger is bringing you special coverage such as the 9 biggest issues facing our seas, coral reef conservation as well as our announcement of Planet Green's Blue August on-air and on-line programming focusing on our world's oceans hosted by Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau. Now THTV brings you another member of the venerable family of ocean explorers, the grandson of Jacques Cousteau, Fabien Cousteau with whom we spoke at a recent screening of the film Sea Ghosts.

Earth From Above aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Betrand speaks to THTV about how he began shooting from the skies. Siting Jane Goodall as "his hero," Bertrand tells of traveling to Africa to study lions. Needing to earn a living, he took a job on a hot-air balloon as a tour guide pointing out African wildlife to tourists. It was up, up, up from there!

His landmark film Home opens today around on world on multiple platforms (theater, web, television). The film is being made entirely for free and 15% of proceeds from DVD sales go to Conservation International.

For Earth Day yesterday, TreeHugger TV dropped in at the Earth School on Manhattan's Lower East Side to listen in on a chat about New York City’s own Newtown Pippin apple and to plant a seedling with the gradeschoolers. This "forgotten fruit," an NYC heirloom apple, was the favorite apple of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and loved by Benjamin Franklin and Queen Victoria, among others. A push is now being made to repopulate the city with these firm, tart, little beauties. Once one learns about their storied past, the breathtaking possibilities of their restoration to New York become crisp and clear: a step back in the right direction toward biodiversity, local food production and consumption, as well as perhaps becoming the jewel in the crown of remediation on America's most polluted waterway Newtown Creek. More amazing history and hear what Michael Pollan has to say about the Newtown Pippin when you let Newtonian physics pull you down through the fold.

Treehugger founder Graham Hill sits down at the computer for a video chat with man-about-the world, high tech entrepreneur, and author Tim Ferris. "Lifestyle design" is a key concept in Ferris's #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller, The 4-Hour Workweek, and we hear how the book's ideas can be applied to greening your life.

Gary Vaynerchuk's Eco-Tips for Winos... VIDEO Part 2 of 4

We brought you the Vaynerchuck video tip on car-pooling here, now this video contains Gary's extended musings. Sitting down for lunch at Cookshop on Manhattan's east side, Gary Vaynerchuk shares his passion for car pooling and suggests that the susty life begins by making small changes in your everyday life. Gary also educates us about the wine industry's rising eco-awareness. The conscious consumer may now purchase wine in Tetrapaks -- paper-based containers that are easier to recycle than glass, lighter and require far less energy to transport & distribute, and do not affect wine quality (yum!). Also, Gary discusses biodynamic, organic, and "terroir" or earthy-flavored wines, and critiques a bottle for us 2004 Le Rouge-Gorge, by vintner, Eric Nicolas, Coteaux du Loir, France, Imported by Louis Dressner Selections.

Charismatic, unconventional oenophile and entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, has attracted a cult-like following (self-described "Vayniacs") of more than 60,000 viewers per day to WineLibrary.com. His show also just got picked-up by Revision3 so you can now also check it out there in a super-shortened, attention-challenged version. He also happens to be passionate about sustainable, eco-smart living. Sitting down for a susty lunch to discuss organic wine at Cookshop with us, Gary introduces himself and his philosophy in this first of four videos. Gary spills that the birth of WineLibraryTV.com was sparked by his competitive nature (with internet überstars Ze Frank and Amanda Cogdon) and got set ablaze by a mid-life crisis. The money quote:

The game needs to change. Wine doesn't want to be pigeonholed into this douchebag thing. People want to drink wine, enjoy it, bring family together...

TreeHugger? Why would you name a website TreeHugger? That's the (non-fossil fueled) burning question, of course...

In this 90-second video with Ben Harper and TreeHugger founder Graham Hill--part four in our GREEN DEETS series with Harper--Hill reveals what hugging trees is really all about.

In addition to the fantastic group of TreeHuggers who comprise this site, one of the many many reasons for TreeHugger.com's success may be its a smart, playful and ultimately powerful name. The name indicates that even someone with a collared shirt (i.e. wearing a suit), and not Birkenstocks, can contribute meaningful actions toward solving the environmental crisis. Basically, the appropriation of this once derogatory term steals power from those who would use it in schoolyard fashion (hello *fox news*) as "sticks and stones." Not only can that particular word never hurt us, it no longer has power to harm the natural resources and biota we seek to protect. "TreeHugger" has been removed from the wordy weapons cache of a noise-machine intent on distracting homo sapiens from our current generational mission. That mission itself takes us back to a question asked by William McDonough in his 2005 TED presentation, which asks the question, How do we love all the children of all species for all time? (A hint: Begin, end, and begin again with a hug.)

Collin Dunn of TreeHugger.com and PlanetGreen.com talks with Ben Harper about his passion for surfing and the preservation of our oceans.

An alligator finds its home invaded by a kitchen and frantically dials 911. WATCH EXCLUSIVE VIDEO BELOW THE FOLD!

"HOME INVASION" screams a graphic across the Today Show screen, but exactly who has invaded the home of whom? The MSM and the internet is atwitter about a certain critter, namely an alligator, that found its way into a Tampa Florida resident's kitchen. However, only fifty years ago, the American Alligator was nearly hunted to extinction in Florida, were placed on the endangered species list in 1973, and then delisted in 1987 when their population rebounded. Today, the greatest environmental threats to alligators are habitat Loss and pollution.

Chad Pregracke and Living Lands & Waters Inspire Us to Clean Up Our Acts and Our Rivers

If today's Earth Day is getting you pumped about helping the planet, we following up on Green Deets 017 with some more inspiration: a really great little news feature package on Chad Pregracke and Living Lands & Waters from a CBS morning show airing on Sundays -- you know, that time when people are supposed to be asleep rather than waking up to what Al Gore recently framed as the great environmental challenge that is our generational mission. Well, welcome to internet video where we unearth clips at will and serve 'em up to you! So that you can as do as Mr. Gore suggests and "approach this challenge with a profound sense of joy and gratitude."

Ben Harper:

There's no nobility in glorifying the problem. The nobility is in finding the solution.

Video running time 3.5 minutes

Yesterday we brought you a clip, 2-minute version and the entire 22-minute version of Al Gore's newest presentation. Today, hot on the trail of global warming skeptics, Chief Detective Gore is doing some climate crime scene investigation that takes us to the earth's stratosphere.

Al Gore has a brand-new slide show, "New Thinking on the Climate Crisis" premiering exclusively on TED.com. Here's a an excerpt wherein he ratchets up the viscosity level on America's addiction to oil, specifically with regard to investing in dead-end technologies such as tar sands and shale oil. Those who do have "a portfolio crammed with subprime carbon assets." Full 22 minute video below the fold or, in light of how pressed for time we all are in addressing the climate crisis, you can find the slideshow condensed to 2 minutes here.

Ben Harper in conversation with TreeHugger founder Graham Hill in DUMBO, Brooklyn. In this first video webisode of our four-part series, we bring you the transformation of a parking island into a public refuge for pedestrians. Running time 3 minutes.

It's not so much that Nader had a crystal ball capable of predicting global warming (Salon suggests he used a foggy one to endorse Edwards for Prez and reviews Nader criticism regarding Gore's lacking enviro walk in 2000) Nader was ahead of the curve for using commerce-based climate solutions as a political lever. Naderville is all about linking in politicos to the public sphere -- which can be a great big green ball if we all buy into it.