Hey Jimmy Kimmel (and other “Hollywood Elites”),
I saw your monologue from Wednesday’s show and was very happy to see that you and all the late night hosts talked about climate change and pushing elected leaders to do more. I think one way you and the upper echelon of the “Hollywood elite” (I’m talking actors, producers, studio execs like Ted Sarandos and Kevin Feige, agencies (especially any agencies with connections to the NRDC…), any entity or successful individual within the entertainment industry) can lead by example is to pool your financial resources and fund sustainable energy infrastructure in communities all across our country and the world. You could aim to offset the entertainment industry’s annual energy usage by 150%. You can do both large-scale solar and/or wind farms (or whatever sustainable measure makes sense for the region) as well as smaller micro grids.
According to this study conducted Summer 2003 – Spring 2005 Hollywood creates more air pollution in the Los Angeles region than all other industries except the petroleum industry and its fuel refineries. From this site: “The study also found that the industry produced 140,000 tons of ozone and diesel particulate emissions per year.”
You can do this either as environmental nonprofits or for-profit businesses (the only thing that really matters is that you actually do it). By doing this you will also create job opportunities within the local communities where the infrastructure is being built. This is a way for everyone to give back to the part of the country or world where they grew up, that helped mold them into the person they are today. Maybe your hometown is struggling, this could be a way to inject some capital back into the local economy and provide some jobs for people who live there.
Pooling your collective wealth to create this infrastructure is one of the best ways you can have a direct impact on climate change and create a better future for your children. Working together will get you a lot further than everyone acting individually. 20 people pitching in $1M each to a nonprofit or business goes a lot further than 20 individuals putting $1M into their own personal project (look, do that if you want and have the aptitude for it). Everyone in the top tier of Hollywood has built themselves a nice little fortune while utilizing more natural resources and fossil fuels than the average person.
I’m not trying to create a bullying campaign for this (maybe a pressure/guilt campaign though?). It’s great that you’re talking about climate change and the impacts we are witnessing, particularly with wildfires out west. I think the majority of the people in the country still do not see it as the existential threat that it is. Most people have not seen hillsides of burnt trees and houses in person let alone active fires. The devastation is hard to comprehend but becoming too common place out west. And will continue for the foreseeable future.
Keeping climate change in the national conversation is important and you have a great platform for that. It would be even stronger if you were actively and directly working to solve the problem. Offsetting Hollywood’s energy usage is a great place for the industry’s top tier members to start.
Help create a better world for your children. You have the means and connections to do this. I hope you find the will. You can probably start with Leo.
Thank you,
George
P.s. Just imagine the amount of shit you can talk about Ted Cruz and everyone who complains about the “Hollywood elite” if you did something along these lines.
@g3kiefer 