Do you care, really care, about Mother Earth? Well, here’s your chance to get involved!

On the heels of President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, the NRDC Action Fund has launched This is Our Moment — a web video campaign urging Congress to pass the first-ever climate and clean energy bill that will break foreign oil’s stranglehold on our country, reduce carbon pollution, and create jobs.

The video campaign features celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Bateman, Chace Crawford, Felicity Huffman, Justin Long, Edward Norton, Emmy Rossum, Forest Whitaker and more.

“This is our moment – our moment to fight for a cleaner and more secure future,” said DiCaprio, a longtime champion for the environment, and a NRDC Trustee. “The time is now for people across the country to stand up and have their voices heard. We all must call on the Senate to act on this historic opportunity.”

Wanna make a difference? Visit ThisIsOurMoment.org and find out how easy it is to contact your Senator. We all have a voice. Let’s use it!

Check out the awesome video below!

Are you ready for Earth Hour 2010?

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already on the third year of the worldwide campaign to recognize climate change with the symbolic gesture of “lights out” for one hour. The initial list of US landmarks taking part in this global climate event includes Mount Rushmore, Empire State Building, the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas,” Harrah’s Caesar Palace and the MGM Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

New Earth Hour participants in 2010 will include Montezuma Castle National Monument in Arizona and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Other local landmarks taking part include Atlanta’s Bank of America building and the Pike Place Market sign in Seattle, with many more expected to sign on in the days ahead.

The World Wildlife Fund, which organizes the campaign each year, is hopeful that participation in the U.S. will include people, buildings, and landmarks from all 50 states.

Last year, celebrities like Edward Norton, Alanis Morissette, and even Yoko Ono campaigned for people to join the campaign. Are you ready for a little candlelight on March 27th? Check out the new promo below:

Edward Norton has achieved his goal of raising more than $1 million for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

The fundraising effort began in late summer when Norton and a team of runners (including some Maasai warriors) sought sponsorship in running the New York City Marathon. Celebrities such as Alanis Morissette and David Blaine jumped on board — as well as corporations like shoe giant PUMA. All of the money raised, which totaled some $750,000 after the marathon in early November, went towards the Trust to support education, wildlife conservation, and medical services. But Norton wasn’t content with just three quarters of a million.

“Trying to raise 1 million by the end of next week. We’re close.,” he wrote on Twitter. 11 days later, using a variety of signed movie collectibles and other giveaways, Norton and his team crossed the finish line. The current total now stands at $1,005,977.

While the tweets have dropped off since then, we suspect the last one means we haven’t quite reached the end of this ambitious fundraising effort. “For new followers: check out what we’ve been up to,” it says. “Trying to get 100,000 people to contribute $20 to this great org www.maasaimarathon.com“

Congratulations to Team Norton on raising cash that will make an enormous difference for both the people and wildlife of Kenya.

The 2009 NYC Marathon may be over, but that isn’t stopping Edward Norton from continuing to fundraise as much as possible. The actor has clearly found Twitter to be an lucrative conduit for donations — and numerous contests through his account continue pulling in cash for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

When the marathon finished on November 3rd, Norton and his team of runners had successfully raised over $750,000. Not content to leave the final total in the six digits, the new goal is an even $1 million or more; something he hopes to achieve by next week. “So far -$ raised from people giving $37 in last 5 hrs will pay the salary of a teacher for 1 month,” he wrote earlier today. “You guys are making a huge difference.”

According to the official donations page, Norton and company have raised just north of $864,000. Want to help them get the rest of the way there? Check out the official page — or hit up Ed’s twitter page for more details here.

“I met him first in the winter of 2005-06. I’m involved very heavily with an organization that is one of the biggest developers of affordable housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and it’s an organization that has contributed a lot to developing housing policy. So we often will have sessions with new senators and stuff like that, and I helped orchestrate a meeting with him and his housing staff and this organization, so that was the first time I met him. Which was nice, because we got to engage on a subject that was interesting to both of us, and I think he was able to meet me in a context not having to do with wanting to make a film about him.”

– Edward Norton speaking in an interview on AintitCoolNews.com about his new documentary By The People: The Election of Barack Obama. The film premieres tonight on HBO.

In the pool of celebrity runners for the 2009 NYC Marathon yesterday, Edward Norton finished on top. The 40-year-old actor completed the grueling 26.2 mile race in three hours, 48 minutes and one second. “You know you are going to hit tough spots,” he said post-marathon, “in a weird way mine came early in the race, but then I got my second wind around mile 18 and felt great the rest of the way.”

Norton was running the race to help raise funds for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust; with the normally shy web-user lighting up the social networking scene with fundraising on Twitter. Taking a look at rough totals this morning, I added up that the entire Maasai team running the marathon raised around $763,000. Norton himself raised an impressive $301,000. He wrote on Twitter after the race, “Many supporters in the crowd yelling encouragement. Totally inspiring. Highlight was hearing roar of city crowd from 59th St Bridge. Chills.”

While I’m sure the final fundraising numbers will be a bit higher, it’s wonderful to know that the Maasai will have some much-needed cash to help preserve their ecosystem and way of life. “If it seems like a project in a far off place that doesn’t connect to your world or your life, consider the fact that the ecosystem these people are trying to preserve is one of the last refuges of the lions and giraffes and rhinos and elephants that are the wildlife of our primitive imaginations and memories,” Norton wrote in his running bio. “There is a genuine threat to the future of that wildness if we don’t collectively value it and engage with the people who live alongside it.”

Mission accomplished. Now how about doing this again next year?

The documentary will appear on HBO this coming November 3rd. Watch the trailer below:

Edward Norton is really driving support for his marathon run to benefit the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. The actor is taking on the 26.2 mile challenge to raise awareness and cash for the organization — which promotes sustainable development while protecting the east African grasslands that the Maasai tribe calls home. Using a slick website — and giving people the option to sponsor individual runners on his team, Norton has already raised over $305,000! His many twitter updates (his follower count has rocketed to 100K +) and contest promotions have also brought in the donations.

Yesterday, Norton announced that singer Alanis Morissette was joining the team — which also includes magician David Blaine. “i was and am committed,” she writes on her sponsor page. “for the maasai conservation wilderness trust. for edward. for shauna. for myself. and for the collective idea of tenacity, perseverance and loving/prevailing in the face of fear and pain. yay, can’t wait. jumping in last minute, please contribute whatever you feel called to…super grateful.”

The NYC Marathon kicks off on November 1st. To learn all about the Maasai — or help sponsor a runner — check out the official website here.

Edward Norton has become the latest celebrity to tie up the laces and start training for the New York City Marathon. Beyond personal fitness, Norton is taking on the 26.2 mile-long challenge to benefit the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust — an organization working to promote sustainable development while protecting the east African grasslands that the Maasai tribe calls home. According to CNN, both the traditional tribe’s way of life and its environment have been threatened by rapid industrial development. From the article,

Norton discovered, and became a supporter of, the trust about 10 years ago during his first visit to Kenya, where he met founder Luca Belpietro. “I was impressed at the way he was really genuinely working with the community to create value out of being good stewards of the land,” Norton said.  The Maasai are at the heart of Kenya’s long tradition of distance running. Norton said one of the runners, safari guide Parashi Ntanin, is so fast he could probably leave the rest of the group behind and run the race in less than 2½ hours. Norton said he’s run as much as 15 miles twice during his training for the 26.2-mile marathon and that despite some leg and knee pains, he’s confident he’ll finish the endurance race.

You can get updates on Edward Norton’s training for the marathon by following him on Twitter @EdwardNorton. We wish him the best of luck in kicking up the pavement this November 1st. Check out the video below:

Photo credit: Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

– Edward Norton speaking about the winners of the “Green Effect” — a contest where five winning green ideas received $20K in funding. To see the winners, please jump here.

Photo credit: PR Photos