Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Wal-Mart Kisses Up to Greens

Here's something interesting that a source sent me:

A conference on compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) was held recently. Lawrence Bender, the producer of Al Gore's global warming film, "An Inconvenient Truth," must have spoken there (or at least had access to the attendee list), because he sent them the following message:
Thank you again for your generous support during the theatrical release of An Inconvenient Truth. As you are well aware, An Inconvenient Truth struck a chord with teachers and students. It not only raised awareness of the existence and effects of global warming, but it ignited a desire to learn more about Environmental Science in the classroom setting. I am writing to you to help us continue to share the truth.

The DVD will be released on November 21 with a free downloadable educational curriculum guide that may be used by both educators and students in conjunction with the screening of the film. Mr. Gore has also supplied a scientific update on the DVD along with some other exciting extra features.

Our goal is to give a privately sponsored or subsidized DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth" to every teacher, student, educator or non-profit/social organization who does not have the funds to directly purchase a copy. In addition to the 250,000 DVDs needed to cover public educational institutions, we are fielding requests for the DVD from a wide spectrum of groups such as shelters, senior centers, boys and girls clubs, and even correctional facilities. To meet the demand, we are appealing to you to adopt local school or join our national drive to donate the DVD to the teachers, students and libraries.

Many companies are purchasing the DVD for their employees, vendors and customers as holiday gifts. The cost of an individual DVD donation is $21, which includes shipping and sales tax. Donations of DVDs are tax deductible through our partnership with The Environmental Media Association, a registered non-profit organization. We will include a letter of acknowledgment with each DVD and have the facility to customize special notices, cards, coupons, or other relevant materials in each packet.

The message goes on to give contact information for the "Environmental Media Association." Unfortunately, I was not able to find out from my source if any Federal funding was involved.

The funny thing is that the message was distributed via a representative from Wal-Mart. It was sent to a lot of people in that company, as well as to representatives of various non-profits, environmental groups, academics, government agencies, and light bulb manufacturers. So is Wal-Mart going to help distribute Al Gore's propaganda to the school (and get a neat tax deduction)? Will it get them in the good graces of various left-wing organizations?

I have to wonder what "exciting extra feature" could possibly come out of a movie featuring Al Gore! Maybe light bulb jokes?