Originally slated for a 2009 release, Chris Paine’s Revenge Of The Electric Car documentary — the follow-up to his successful Who Killed The Electric Car? flick — has now been moved to a late 2010 release.

Speaking at the Plug-in 2009 conference in Long Beach, California last week, Paine said the decision to move back the release was less about production hold-ups and more because they want the cars to be available when the film hits theaters. Filming for the doc is expected to wrap in September 2010.

Joining Paine during the conference panel was Chelsea Sexton — EV advocate and star of the first film — and none other than Bill Nye the Science Guy, who left his all-electric MINI-E at home in favor of taking the train. Autobloggreen has an MP3 audio capture of the event with the three panelists discussing everything from Ann Coulter to “what it’s like to give someone a ride in your electric car and make them excited about what EVs can do.”

Jump here for more.

For the first time ever, Bill Nye (The Science Guy) and Ed Begley Jr. will both share a stage this Saturday for a talk during the 2009 PSEG Greenfest Expo. What’s sure to be a cage match is wisely the last keynote talk of the day; presumably to give paramedics and Hazmat officials a chance to remove bodies and clean up any toxic debris.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, Begley and Nye have engaged in a “friendly” war of the words over who has the greener lifestyle; with both sides upping the ante each year. Nye moved into Begley’s neighbordhood a few years ago and has been installing high-tech green gizmos galore; with Begley keeping a close watch on his progress. “Without Ed down the street pushing all of us to live a more environmentally-responsible lifestyle, I wouldn’t be so motivated to crush him like a bug,” said Nye in a 2007 interview.

We have no idea what the subject of the talk will be, but we imagine that it will go from a benign slideshow on personal renewable energy to a shouting match and then finally to Nye whipping out a giant homemade volcano filled with volatile baking soda and Begley rolling out a bank of unstable hydrogen fuel cells filled with C4. Boom.

It’s going to be awesome. And I totally want to be there.

Even if the 18th playing of your John Denver Christmas CD has barely left your stream of consciousness, it’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s holiday season. Or, your kid’s birthday. Which is why finding out that Bill Nye the Science Guy has a Paper Recycling Factory is exciting news for any eco-conscious parent. Well, kind of. Current reviews over on Amazon range from “educational” to “torture”. I guess it depends on your patience level for the day — or amount of mixed drinks consumed before mashing.

According to Discover This, Nye’s kit teaches children the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Young science exploreres will make greeting cards, notepads, and much more, all from waste paper. Thing is, the process is very time consuming — with some parents saying that their kids were disappointed. “If you are making paper with more than one child be prepared for some major disappointment,” writes one mom on Amazon. “The kit provides only enough cleaning (drying) cloths to make ONE tiny piece of paper (24 hour drying time). Hopefully, your second child will not be too disappointed to find out that they would have to wait 24 hours to make THEIR sheet of paper…mine was.”

Just another reason to never be born second.

“This is a good idea gone wrong,” writes another parent. “This “toy” comes with the vaguest of instructions and flat out doesn’t work. What it does do is create a helluva mess and a frustrated child. This should be taken off the market.”

Damn — well, hopefully parents will be more receptive to Nye’s next educational toy: The Broken Glass Recycling Factory.

Discover This! via Treehugger

TheDailyGreen has posted a great interview with Bill Nye The Science Guy on his new TV show for Planet Green, his rivarly with Ed Begley Jr., and why climate change skeptics deserve less of a voice than we currently give them. Here are some highlights:

On some of his Eco Sins:

Yeah, I am working all the time on my own vampire load. All the electricity we use to keep TVs on standby, fax machines, cell phones. Tivo’s a big load. Traditional environmentalists want you to do less, drive less, wear dirty clothes and if possible, don’t eat. But that’s not what people want. We want to live the way people in the developed world do but find ways to do more with less.

On Climate Change skeptics:

Our scientific community has allowed people without very strong evidence to degrade the threat of climate change or assert that climate change is not as serious as it is. And then, in interest of “balanced reporting,” we’re allowing both sides to be equal, but you’re talking about thousands of scientists who believe in climate change versus a handful of skeptics. My criticism of the scientific community is that we have not been strident enough.

Which is better: Solar or Wind Power?

Solar panels for sure, for a person at home. Wind turbines for home use are hard to make economically rewarding because you have to build them at too low an altitude. This kid, Chris Columbus, or Master in Commander Jack Aubrey if you prefer … these guys came up with the idea that the highest you are off the sea surface, the harder the wind blows. The idea of a tall ship is to get up there where the wind blows hard. So for home use, you need to get your turbine up unrealistically high.

For the rest of the fantastic interview, jump on over to TheDailyGreen here!

The premise, as we yammered about back in April, is quite similar to David De Rothchild’s new show for Sundance’s THE GREEN. Basically, Nye will point out the “stuff” in our lives and take us on a journey as each item’s life cycle is investigated and uncovered. Along the way, he will also illustrate how simple and easy changes can reduce the environmental cost of things we love.

Take a look at Rothschild’s show — and you’ve got the exact same concept. Problem is, competing with Bill Nye for production value is like putting Michael Phelps up against a dolphin. Sure, it’ll be entertaining, but the dolphin is going to kick some serious ass. Plus, it can do aerial flips. Can Michael Phelps do aerial flips?

For the first episode, Nye will take us into the bathroom. Here’s a bit from the release,

“Some of the stuff that happens there may be unmentionable, but it all has an environmental impact – an impact we can reduce in painless ways that could make a big difference. Nye tackles everything from toothpaste (does it endanger orangutans in Borneo?), to cosmetics (how many pounds of chemicals does your skin absorb over a lifetime of using cosmetics?), to toilets (what kinds of “super bugs” are growing in our municipal water systems due to flushing old prescription drugs down the toilet?) Can Nye save the planet from the peril of sludge?”

If anyone can save us from destruction, it’s Bill Nye. Grab your favorite bow tie and get ready to geek out this September on Planet Green!

Well, at least we’re positive we had fun at the launch of the women-focused green magazine, Positively Green!  Almost all of the West Coast Ecorazzi contributors were there to drink up the organic Frey wines and Butte Creek Ale while listening to the always entertaining Ed Begley, Jr. yuck it up!

I have to be honest with you… I’m no marketing or branding “wizard” but when I’m enjoying a nice glass of ale, I’d rather NOT be envisioning someone’s “butte creek”, but that’s just me. OK, on to the goods…

Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking and I AGREE — isn’t another published mag just contributing to the problem instead of solving it? Well, not so fast…. Well, not so fast…. Positively Green is committed to helping fund “the problem.” See, when you pay $14 for your subscription, 2 of those dollars will be donated to the eco-charity of your choice. I don’t know about you, but I feel better already!

The real question people were asking was: what paper is being used for this pub? The lovely Editor in Chief, Kelly Magill, divulged her dilemma: do we use 30% recycled content that is actually MADE in the good ‘ol U-S-of-A…OR do we use 100% recycled paper that gets shipped here from China! Which devil is worse? She settled on the former, but is still looking for the right 100% recycled paper that’s made in the US. So, Kelly is putting out an APB to all Razz readers: If anybody has a beat on 100% recycled paper that’s actually made in the USA, bring it on and contact her!

Rachelle Begley (Ed’s wife), is Positively Green’s first cover model who, in a tongue-firmly-implanted-in-cheek manner, thanked her husband for accelerating her enviro-education! Ed barbed back that they’re the only couple in Hollywood who have a carbon credit pre-nup! Now, I see why these two have their own reality show!!

So, what else does one do when hobnobbing with the Hollywood eco-elites? Hang out with Bill Nye, The Science Guy, of course! While Bill’s clearly jockeying to win the “I’m greener than you are” contest, he said that Ed’s currently in the lead from a business standpoint given his Begley’s Best products; while he (Bill) feels that HE (himself) is in the lead from an engineering standpoint (huh?). Either way, Bill DID ride his bicycle to the event from the ho,t hot Valley, so this Razz writer is giving him double points for the night. And, come on people… how often do you see an eco-nut and a bow tie in the same room, let alone on the same person!

After pouring over my complimentary copy of Positively Green, I can honestly say that the content is smart, the layout is visually stimulating, and it doesn’t talk down to its readers (who are expected to be both green veterans and newbies). Of course, my favorite section is the one called Eco-Gossip provided by your very own Ecorazzi team (is it possible that I’m kissing some serious arse here? You be the judge). All in all, I’m giving it the Tracy Metro seal of approval (for whatever that’s worth).

Tracy Metro (and yes, Metro IS her real name!) is a TV host who was eco-chic before eco and chic were even hyphenated! Wanna learn more about this eco-conut? Grab a fare card and go for a ride at www.tracymetro.com

Just under a year ago, word leaked on an epic rivalry between neighbors Bill Nye the Science Guy and actor Ed Begley Jr. The competition? To see who could lead the green(er) lifestyle — something Begley has for decades championed.

Now, since Nye moved into the neighborhood two years ago, the stakes are being continuously raised. Here’s a low-down of who’s got what:

>>Nye installed a solar system that has many more features (and probably more efficient) than Begley’s 15-year old version.

>>Begley installed rain barrels to offset his wife’s 20-minute showers — and is also now getting ready to add an underground cistern for even more storage.

>>Begley has Astro Turf instead of a real lawn, composts his garbage, and has a sprinkler system (for the garden) that automatically checks the weather and shuts down if it is forecast to rain.

>>Nye keeps raccoons out of his garden with an electric fence powered by a matchbox-sized solar panel. Ouch.

>>Begley’s fence is made from recycle plastic milk cartons. Nye has a fence and patio cover made from the same.

While Nye admits that he’ll probably never overtake the more than 20 years head-start that Begley has, he’s still not backing down from the challenge — even when others attempt to detail his attempts.

Last year at this time, we asked who would ultimately win. An astounding 76% predicted a Nye upset. Let’s see what everyone thinks this time around:

via AP

Ah ha, so the rumors were true. After a brief hiatus from television, Bill Nye the Science Guy is set to host a new television series called Stuff Happens on Discovery’s Planet Green. Here’s a bit from the synopsis:

“STUFF HAPPENS host Emmy® Award-winning Bill Nye (scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor) unlocks the secret lives of everyday things before and after we consume them, and reveals the unintended consequences of all the stuff we take for granted. As each item’s life cycle is investigated and uncovered, Bill shows how simple and easy changes can reduce the environmental cost of things we love.”

We can’t wait.

Also making a return (I haven’t seen this guy since college) is comedian Tom Green in the tentatively titled The Tom Green Project . Apparently, Tom will be hosting the “first game show with a green mission” in a half-hour series set to launch sometime later in the year. The grand prize? Carbon offsets for you and your family!! I kid, I kid.

I’m sure they’ll give away a Suburban or something…

Bill Nye is seriously one of the coolest television personalities ever to don a bow-tie. In a battle royale between him and Tucker Carson, Nye would kick some serious ass. Which is why we’re excited over rumors that the dorky scientist might be headed to Discovery Channel’s Planet Green network this coming summer. Nye had previously hosted a show on Discovery’s Science Channel, but is best known for the Emmy-winning Bill Nye the Science Guy on PBS. Thankfully, rumors of his death in a massive vinegar/baking soda explosion were greatly exaggerated. Let’s hope Discovery pulls this off. We’ll have our goggles and chemistry kits ready in expectation.

In other random Planet Green news, we’re mourning the apparent drop of a reality series that would have called for teams to race from Los Angeles to New York without using gas-guzzling vehicles. Aw, man! That sounds like a great concept — until one realizes what a giant challenge that presents. Still, throw an engineer and a mechanic onto each team and who knows what will happen. Bring it back PG — we’re ready to sign up!

Finally, it looks like An Inconvenient Truth will hit Discovery sometime in late November of next year. For those that haven’t seen it, the documentary tells the — oh, nevermind.

via Mediapost

Tindall emptied the bottles into Nye’s garden and the famous TV personality filed a restraining order with claims that she was attempting to poison his produce. From the article,

“Tindall, author of ”Mozart in the Jungle” and a former concert oboist, admitted in a declaration that she emptied two bottles of weed killer in the garden. Distress over the ”faux marriage” and a series of financial and personal problems led to ”a foolish, sophomoric act of poor judgment that was only intended to harm flowers, and certainly not people,” she said.”

Oh the horror! Begley should move in for the kill immediately. Nye is weakened and vulnerable. There can be only one.