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03/31/09 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM March 18, 2009 MEDIA CONTACT: Nick Massella "PLANET FORWARD" TO FEATURE CAROL BROWNER, WHITE HOUSE ENERGY AND CLIMATE ADVISER, AND CITIZEN-PRODUCED VIDEOS TO DISCUSS ENERGY SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE EVENT: Emmy-award winning journalist and GW Professor of Media and Public Affairs Frank Sesno will host the premiere taping of Planet Forward, an innovative media project that advances the discussion on energy and climate change and migrates from the Web to television and back. The program has launched online at planetforward.org and will be broadcast on PBS April 15, 2009. Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, will participate. A virtual public square, Planet Forward is fueled by the power of ideas - from students to scientists, entrepreneurs to activists - as they make their case for what they think about the nation's energy future. WHEN: March 31, 2009; 7:00 p.m. WHERE: The George Washington University WHO: Guests include Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, Shai Agassi, founder and CEO, Better Place; James Connaughton, former chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality; executive vice president, Constellation Energy; and L. Hunter Lovins, president and founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions. RSVP: The event is free and open to the public. RSVP with name and contact information to JMAevent@gwu.edu. Media may RSVP to Nick Massella at massella@gwu.edu or (202) 994-3087. Cameras and recording equipment will be not permitted. Web site: www.planetforward.org BACKGROUND: Taped before a live audience at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the Planet Forward television special will feature online content from www.planetforward.org. The esteemed group of panelists also will engage in dialogue, debate, and discourse with each other and the audience about whether we can - or should - move rapidly away from fossil fuels. The PBS broadcast premier is April 15, 2009, at 8 p.m. (WETA-TV, check local listings). Videos currently on the Web site range from "Sioux Turbines," which follows an Indian tribe generating revenue through wind power not casinos, and is produced by a student from The George Washington University; "Transit Vision," which uses animation to imagine the future of commuter rail in New Bedford, Mass.; "Pavements," which explores capturing and re-using heat generated from asphalt surfaces; "Nebraska Rides the Wind," which covers how life in a small town has been transformed by the arrival of giant wind turbines rising above the prairie grass; and "From Potato to Engine," which focuses on a shuttle bus converted from diesel to dining hall fuel (the bus is entirely powered on used canola oil from the Roger Williams University cafeteria); and commentary from Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, encouraging an energy reality check. Research from Public Agenda on the Energy Awareness Index also will be released through the Planet Forward site. The research tracks public attitudes around issues such as energy, climate change, and economic impact, revealing what the public knows and what it needs to know to create solutions to these challenges. Seeking to engage a young and diverse audience, Planet Forward is based at The George Washington University and involves students, faculty, and administrators from several universities including Roger Williams University, the University of Nebraska, and Middlebury College, as well as local public television stations, to create a groundswell of engagement and local activity. Planet Forward is a co-production of the Public Affairs Project at The George Washington University and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications in collaboration with Public Agenda and Sunburst Creative Productions. For more news about The George Washington University, visit www.gwnewscenter.org. - GW - |
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