As reported by Gristmill, there is a new competition for anyone who wants to produce a short (very short) movie about the climate crisis.

Current TV and the Alliance for Climate Protection (both Gore-driven projects) have teamed up to promote :60 Seconds to Save the Earth, a contest soliciting video public service announcements about climate change. They’re looking for 15-, 30-, or 60-second video spots that will showcase green action and spur public change.

A panel of celebrity judges (including Cameron Diaz, Orlando Bloom, Rihanna, and George Clooney) will whittle the entries down to 20 semi-finalists, and the cream of the crop will then be determined by Current’s online community.

Now, I am an inquiring sort of chap, so looked into the details a bit more. What I found was worrying enough to post a comment on Gristmill, but because commercial interests are becoming so insidious, I don’t want to risk it disappearing into the censor’s bin. Here is my comment in full:

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Lovely idea. Get lots of aspiring directors to say good things about saving the planet, and then when the finalists are chosen – well, who do you think will be waiting to make themselves look good. Let’s take a look…

Toyota

Toyota are offering a Prius as a prize. But they’re not really, because they have a new “Hybrid-Lite” to sell, called the Highlander, and that is what the winner in the USA will get. A car that gets half the mileage of the Prius, because it’s a big sedan.

Sony

There are all sorts of consumer gadgets on offer as prizes in the competition. Sony likes a high profile, hence the large branding on their products, and on the competition web site. Fancy a 46″ plasma screen? That’s good for the planet, isn’t it.

T-Mobile

Another commercial sponsor. Another new gadget that needs promoting. Hey! Let’s offer it as a prize in a competition to help save the planet.

By the way, Current TV have been kind enough to link straight to the manufacturers’ web sites, in case you want some stuff now.

So who is behind this?

Al Gore is the big cheese of The Alliance For Climate Protection, but he surely doesn’t have time to micromanage things like this competition. I wonder if the Board of Directors has any influence on the organization’s policies:

Theodore Roosevelt IV : Managing Director, Lehman Brothers – one of the largest capital management and financial dealing companies in the world. They don’t want the system to change.

Carol M. Browner : Principal, The Albright Group, LLC – A political lobbying firm.

Brent Scowcroft : President, The Scowcroft Group; National Security Advisor to President Gerald R. Ford and President George H.W. Bush – Now here’s one guy who has no vested interests at all (joke). He is a military man and apparently coined the term “New World Order”. Nice.

Lee Thomas :Retired President and COO, Georgia-Pacific Corp – This is getting really silly now. GP received record fines for environmental damage in the USA while on Lee Thomas’ watch, and were one of the pioneers in opening up the Borneo rain forest for industrial deforestation.

Orin S. Kramer :General Partner, Boston Provident, L.P – Another financial firm, another dollar.

Where exactly are the environmental experts, the objective scientists, the people who actually want things to change, on this Board?

Oh yes…

Larry J. Schweiger : President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation – Could be worse, although Larry is a dyed-in-the-wool Live Earth person now. The NWF don’t do activism though – you won’t find any tree-sitters or eco-warriors on their books – they want change so long as it doesn’t spoil anyone’s party.

So there you go.

Enter the competition if you like, but don’t expect anything to change because of it. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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Keith Farnish
www.theearthblog.org
www.reduce3.org
Rabid Cynic, and Proud Member Of The Sietch.