Following his hilarious guest appearance on 30 Rock this week, Al Gore dropped in on Saturday Night Live to chat up the climate crisis and his new book “Our Choice”.

Gore appeared in two skits — a Weekend Update bit and my personal new favorite “What’s Up With That”; a faux talkshow for BET that interrupts guests with crazy 70’s-style jams and singing. It’s brilliant.

On Weekend Update, Gore revealed that his future activism is “going to get a little crazy” if his green message keeps falling on deaf ears. Animal rights activists will also be happy to hear that he ended the skit by decrying factory farming and urging more sustainable agriculture. Check them both out below:

Earlier this year, Ecorazzi reported that Leno had started a segment on his show called the Green Car Challenge, where celebrities take turns racing around a homemade track in a specially prepared Ford Focus-based battery car. While racing, the famous contestants face a variety of challenges, including cut-outs of Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr.

About his inspiration to start the challenge, Leno told Starpulse.com:

“Whenever I would drive a green car, like an electric car, when I drove it to the show, the female guests would go, ‘What is that? Does that not use gas?’ And a lot of times, without sounding sexist, the guys are interested in cars, the women could care less. But this is something where the women will go, ‘Hey, how does that work?’ And they’re really interested.”

So how does Sheryl Crow do? You’ll have to watch the video below to find out!

NBC’s Green Week is kicking off this Sunday and we’ve got a few scoops on what’s in store for two of our favorite shows.

Even our super (not) secret sources at GE have only been told so much about plot lines for The Office but here’s what we’ve got: “Dwight Schrute from The Office gets into a green character, assuming the role of ‘Recyclops.’” Nothing could go wrong there…

The folks behind 30 Rock, however, are a little more forthcoming. In the upcoming ep, Jack gets the word from above that TGS needs to reduce it carbon footprint by 5%. Jack’s solution? Give the job to Kenneth The Page. We also got word that Al Gore will make his second cameo on the show. He almost pulled off a self referential joke a couple years back, let’s see if he can do better this time around.

For the record, 30 Rock is one of the greener shows at NBC Universal. In addition to their standard recycling efforts, the show has removed water bottles and has instead installed water filters. Their caterer also uses compostable products, and the offices have switched to chemical-free cleaning products. They also rent hybrids for both talent and crew. As if I didn’t love 30 Rock enough.

Check out the shows and let us know what you think of their approach to environmentalism. It takes all kinds…

In a pretty hilarious split screen Formidable Opponent segment, Colbert started off by interviewing himself and then introduced the former Vice President to chime in. Gore shared this piece of information:

“Stopping global warming doesn’t have to hurt our economy. In my new book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, available now from Rodale Press — $26.95. I lay out bold ideas that, if implemented, will not only reduce man’s carbon footprint, but create new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Check out the hilarious clip below and watch Al Gore simulate what adapting to global warming will be like for Colbert.

Ever since Al Gore introduced his famous slideshow to the world and stood up as a leader in the fight against climate change, advocates of the vegetarian scene have urged the former Vice President to acknowledge the link between eating less meat and helping the environment. Yesterday, Gore finally jumped on board saying that reducing meat in one’s diet is “the responsible thing to do” when it comes to the fight on climate change.

Talking to ABC, Gore agreed with the UK’s Nicholas Stern that meat eaters have contributed greatly to increased global carbon emissions.”I’m not a vegetarian, but I have cut back sharply on the meat that I eat,” he said. “It’s absolutely correct that the growing meat intensity of diets around the world is one of the issues connected to this global crisis – not only because of the CO2 involved, but also because of the water consumed in the process.”

“You could add in the health consequences as well.”

Gore also added that substituting more fruit and vegetables in an everyday diet was the responsible thing to do. “I’ve made those changes, and while I don’t go quite as far as Nick saying everybody should become a vegetarian – partly because it’s difficult enough to get the agreement without adding that on top of it – it is a legitimate point of view.”

Some on this site have criticized Gore for not mentioning factory farming in his new book “Our Choice”. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but Think Progress says that Gore does indeed address the issue. From the site,

“Chapter Ten of Our Choice, ‘Soil,’ discusses the complex range of challenges and opportunities related to food production and consumption, noting in particular the costs of industrial agriculture. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations, including practical ones for American consumers, like supporting farmers’ markets and eating less meat. And Gore follows his own advice:

There is a serious issue about the connection between the growing meat intensity of diets around the world and damage to the environment. And like a lot of people, I eat less meat now than I used to. I’m not a vegetarian, don’t plan to become one, but it’s a healthy choice to eat more vegetables and fruits. So it’s not a laughable issue.”

So, what do you think? Gore has reduced his consumption of meat — but is not planning on becoming a vegetarian. He also now publicly links factory farming as a contributor to climate change — and encourages people to reduce the meat in their diets. A good start? Or still falling far short of what you expect?

Sources: The Age and ThinkProgress

Al Gore is hitting the media circuit to drum up publicity for his new book “Our Choice” — and true to form, climate change deniers and the political right are quick to counter his time in the spotlight with jabs and scorn over his “green agenda”. This time, labeling Gore as a future “carbon billionaire” is the rallying cry — with many believing that his push for greener industries is simply a ploy to pad his pockets.

In response, Gore sent the NY Times an email saying that his investment activities were consistent with his public advocacy over decades.

“I have advocated policies to promote renewable energy and accelerate reductions in global warming pollution for decades, including all of the time I was in public service,” Mr. Gore wrote. “As a private citizen, I have continued to advocate the same policies. Even though the vast majority of my business career has been in areas that do not involve renewable energy or global warming pollution reductions, I absolutely believe in investing in ways that are consistent with my values and beliefs. I encourage others to invest in the same way.”

Let’s also not forget that Gore has given away millions to help fund his non-profit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, and to the Climate Project, which trains people to present a version of the slide show from An Inconvenient Truth.

To be honest, the guy could make $100 billion and I wouldn’t give a damn. He’s helping to invest in technologies and companies that are pushing this nation in a more sustainable direction. He’d be a fool not to put his money where his mouth is.

For the longest time, PETA has been urging Gore to address factory farming as detrimental to the environment — and promote a more vegetable-friendly diet as one big way to help “save the planet”. Beck uses this argument to tackle Gore in the aftermath of comments by UK Climate Chief Lord Stern, who yesterday urged people to go vegetarian. “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better,” Lord Stern said in an interview.

In a typical nonsensical rant, Beck started off his show yesterday with Lord Stern’s comments and immediately interpreted them as some kind of attack on his right to choose what to eat. This segued into a slam on a school district in Baltimore participating in “Meatless Mondays”, with Beck throwing out the latest buzz word nutty right-wingers love to use: “indoctrination”. Ooh, vegetables. Scary.

Finally, he ended by praising PETA for their consistent message on climate change — while noting that Gore should put down the cheeseburgers and pick up the tofurkey. Outside the box of reality, I agree with him — but the guy is so damn disingenuous and toxic to everything he espouses — I feel like I need to go take a really long shower. Check out the clip below:

Expect to see a lot more of Al Gore in the media over the next couple weeks.

The Nobel Prize winner and Former VP is about to release a new book on the environment titled “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” On sale November 3rd, it was created by Gore a follow-up to his 2006 book “An Inconvenient Truth”. Whereas that one dealt with explaining what climate change is and how it will impact us, “Choice” is more about the solutions we can pursue to prevent irreversible damage to our planet. It’s also meant to inspire others to take action; unlike “Truth” which made me want to reconsider having children.

“[This book] is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action—not only on an individual basis but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us,” he writes in the forward.

In terms of green cred, it comes fully loaded: 100% recycled paper, locally produced and sourced editions, low VOC inks, carbon neutral, and 100% of the proceeds will go towards the Alliance for Climate Protection. To publicize the launch, Gore will appear on The David Letterman Show next Tuesday night to discuss the book in a bit more detail.

And finally, don’t be surprised if this one is turned into a film as well. I’m sure there’s a tiny bit of room left on the mantle for another Oscar.

Google has added a new feature to its 3D mapping program, Google Earth, that allows you to plot firsthand the devastating predicted effects of climate change until the year 2100. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Using data provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the search giant created new layers for Google Earth showing the range of expected temperature and precipitation changes under different global emissions scenarios that could occur throughout the century. The new tools were introduced in partnership with the Danish Government ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Convention in December.

Al Gore, who serves as a Senior Adviser to Google, lent his voice for a short video tour of the new tools — pointing out layers that show sea level changes, ice loss, and rising temperatures. In an effort not to highlight all doom and gloom, Google will also add layers showing what communities around the world are doing to combat climate change and reduce their carbon footprint.

To check out the new Climate Change map, visit here.

Well, Rush Limbaugh certainly didn’t disappoint.

After a lengthy conversation with Jay Leno on his right-wing viewpoints (which unsurprisingly ended with the government taking away our liberty, rights to happiness, blah, blah), the radio host jumped into a Ford all-electric Focus and took to the racetrack.

Unlike Barrymore, who stuck her foot to the pedal immediately, Rush seems a little unsure of the car’s responsiveness — but quickly improved. At least, that is, until he got to the cardboard cutouts of Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr. As expected, Rush hit each one, stopped, and backed up to hit them again. At one point, the vitriol for Gore poured forth when Rush spouted something that sounded like “You sack of shit.” while hitting him.

In the end, Limbaugh actually had some kind words about the Ford Focus EV — so him and Jay were able to be in agreement on at least one topic. His score on the racetrack, however, was awful. Check out the video below: