Al Gore's Carbon Neutral Oscar Awards Ceremony

According to Leonardi DiCaprio and Al Gore the 2007 Academy Awards ceremony was carbon neutral - carbon offsets purchased by the Academy from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The Academy reportedly purchased 178 megawatt hours of electricity offsets (emission free production of electricity that substitutes for hydrocarbon produced electricity).

The Academy also used 300 hybrid vehicles to drop stars off at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Avenues. Other symbolic global warming reduction gestures were included in the ceremony. Touchy feel good Hollywood stuff. The Oscar goodie bag contained gift certificates representing 100,000 pounds of greenhouse gas reductions from TerraPass, a "carbon offset retailer." The 100,000 pounds are enough to balance out an average year in the life of an Academy Award presenter. For example, 100,00 pounds is the total amount of carbon dioxide created by 20,000 miles of driving, 40,000 miles on commercial airlines, 20 hours in a private jet and a large house in Los Angeles. The credits are based on wind power and other alternatives. (New York Post)

Of course, the film tha Al Gore narrated, "An Inconvenient Truth" received the Oscar for Best Documentary. Of course, advertising the problem does nothing to reduce it.