>> The small screen: MSNBC will air Future Earth: 100 Heartbeats, which follows naturalist Jeff Corwin as he explores 7 countries on 4 continents and talks about the “Sixth Extinction” — the extinction of many animal species happening right now due to human actions. The preview seems very doom and gloom — though with great footage of endangered animals. Watch it Sun., Nov. 22 at 5 pm or 8 pm.

>> The big screen: Movie popcorn’s a very efficient artery clogger. Watched 2012 at L.A. Live’s Regal movie theater last night? If you gobbled down a medium popcorn while taking in scenes of global disaster, then you made a disastrous decision for your health — because you ingested 1,200 calories and 3 days worth of saturated fat while sitting still.

I know what you’re thinking: But I ate a large! If so, click through because there’s good news for you –

Image via GoodGuide

Live near Santa Monica Airport? It looks like the city should have been taking the concerns of community groups complaining about airport pollution more seriously. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found worryingly high levels of air pollution at Santa Monica Airport — which has them calling for larger buffers at urban airports. According to the L.A. Times:

Ultrafine particle emissions were 10 times higher than normal about 300 feet downwind of the runway’s east end, where takeoffs generally start. The levels were 2.5 times higher than normal at a distance of about 2,000 feet.”

While big, commercial airports get the most attention when it comes to air pollution concerns, this study shows that regional and municipal airports can also be major health hazards — especially if they’re in densely-populated urban neighborhoods.

The L.A. Times reports that another soon-to-be-published study by the South Coast Air Quality Management District are consistent with the UCLA study’s findings, which you can purchase for $30.

Affected by the Santa Monica Airport pollution? You can join up with fellow community members also concerned about the issue via the Santa Monica Airport Committee of the Mar Vista Community Council or C.R.A.P.P. (Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution).

Photo by mcclave

Any increase in the cost of TVs would be offset by savings in owners’ electric bills, the commission said. More efficient models are expected to shave about $30 a year off owners’ electric bills and collectively save Californians about $8 billion in energy costs by 2021.

Trade groups opposed the measure saying “regulations would lead to higher prices, lost retail jobs and a decline in state tax revenue.” However, Cali has a long history of enacting tougher energy efficiency regulations on refrigerator and other appliances — and the dire industry predictions in those instances haven’t become reality.

Instead, we’ got more efficient machines that saved us money — and kept us from building unnecessary coal power plants. As Ronald Brownstein’s feature “The California Experiment” in The Atlantic recently pointed out, Cali’s a leader in energy efficiency — partly because of rules like this new eco-TV mandate:

In 1977 the commission approved aggressive efficiency standards not only for refrigerators and freezers but also for air conditioners…. In the next decade, the Energy Commission followed with efficiency standards for furnaces, dryers, swimming-pool heaters, household cooking appliances, heat pumps, showerheads, and fluorescent-lamp ballasts, among other products. Those rules became models for use in other states and, eventually, for federal appliance standards. In 1978, using a pioneering computer program developed by Rosenfeld and his colleagues, the Energy Commission opened another front by approving more-sophisticated energy-efficiency standards for new buildings. Other states, and even other countries, followed.

California’s once again the first state to come up with energy efficient standards for TVs. Regulations won’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2011, when new hi-def TVs of up to 58 inches will need to cut electricity used by a third. By Jan. 1, 2013, the same types of TVs will need to twice as energy-efficient as they are today.

Earlier: Why eco-Angelenos should feel good about California

Photo by David J

Today’ freebie is a Steaz Organic Iced Teaz sampler pack and a $10 Target gift card. Steaz is perhaps best known for making the first organic, fair trade energy drinks, but the company now also has an Organic Iced Teaz line — which I included in my roundup of 3 eco-ethical drinks to keep you cool — organic, fair trade style.

Why the $10 Target card? Well, this giveway’s a part of a campaign that Steaz is running with the megastore — which to its credit, carries not only Steaz teas, but also upcycled goodies from TerraCycle and fair trade wines.

If you’re already a Steaz fun, you’ll be happy to know that the company often offers coupons for free tea and discounts — like this buy-one-get-one-free at Target dealio — on Twitter and Facebook.

Comment by Thursday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Friday (more info on freebies here). US addresses only.

>> L.A.’s Midnight Ridazz are bicycling stars in a 30 Seconds to Mars music video, “Kings + Queens.” Will Campbell has a detailed description of the video in his post — “I’m Just Bitter Because I Wasn’t A Part of It” — if you’d rather read than watch.

>> Get real-time DASH Downtown L.A. arrival times. Call, text, or visit dtdash.com on your computer or mobile device for the deets.

>> There’ll be no late night subway service for the holidays this year due to the economy, so keep an eye on your watch for the last train. “Currently, the last Red Line train leaves North Hollywood at 12:54 a.m., arriving at Union Station at 1:23 a.m. Leaving Union Station, the last train leaves at 12:17 a.m., arriving in North Hollywood at 12:47 a.m.”

>> Now that the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension’s running, get ready to party for the Gold Line Foothill Extension. To celebrate a speeded-up construction timeline that aims to extend the Gold Line to Azusa by 2013, Metro’s having a kick-off celebration and station billboard unveiling (PDF) on Sat., Nov. 21 in Monrovia. There’ll be junk food and kiddie rides — (via The Source)

>> More subways mean more mind games? Slate’s Tom Vanderbilt looks into the psychology studies undertaken on subways: “The subway—which keeps random people together in a contained, observable setting—is a perfect rolling laboratory for the study of human behavior.”

What’s really going to happen at Copenhagen? No one knows, according to David Roberts at Grist, who says everyone’s simply guessing:

What all this “news” has in common is that it’s based on Some Person Guessing. The closer one gets to the circus, the more one realizes that everyone is guessing, right up to negotiators and senators themselves. Everyone’s trying to shape the future, not forecast it.

David points to a poll which shows that even insiders’ “predictions” about what they think WILL happen line up quite nicely with their ideological leanings on what they WANT to happen.

So don’t lose hope — Geoffrey Lean, Contributing Editor at London’s Daily Telegraph says “Copenhagen panic is premature,” and David Turnbull, Director of the Climate Action Network – International, says “Rumors of Copenhagen’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.”

Keep pushing for what YOU want to happen in Copenhagen. If you’re clueless about Copenhagen, GOOD has put together a Guide to COP15 — with a quick introduction to get you started.

Image via 350.org

Watch the video above to see the markings of the oil industry right next to the Beverly Hills High School campus, below The Farmers’ Market at Fairfax and 3rd, by the Beverly Center, and more. Oil of L.A. also provides some background on the oil industry in L.A. and features an interview with a representative from Long Beach energy company Signal Hill Petroleum.

And if you still want to see more after the video, the State of California Department of Conservation has a small and curious collection of photographs depicting oil and gas drilling in the L.A.-area.

Oil of L.A.’s the first in a series by the online TV network VBS.tv called Uneven Terrain, “devoted to urban exploration and uncovering the hidden, underground and forgotten corners of the world’s leading metropolises”

>> Hollywood: Everyone’s invited to a sustainable fashion event to enjoy a free glass of champagne while toasting The Sustainable Sirens campaign — and a trunk show for eco-fashion line Re-Collection, made entirely out of upcycled materials by designer PJ Faulstick. Stop by fashion boutique Code C, 8641 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles anytime between 5 pm – 8 pm.

>> Hollywood: Get free organic pizza at LA Green Drinks, which happens at Pizza Fusion tonight. Arrive early because free samples will only be around between 7 pm 8:30 pm, though socializing over organic beer and wine — at special happy hour prices — will continue until 10 pm. Pizza Fusion’s located at 7950 W Sunset Blvd., Ste. 104, Los Angeles. Earlier: Green Drinks FAQ.

>> Venice: Go to the Venice Food Forum: Eat, Drink & be Wary! to discuss eco-foodie issues with founder of urban homestead Path to Freedom Jules , TV writer and producer Katherine Green, and local writer and food activist Nicole Johnson. The panel happens 7 pm – 9 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) at the Venice Center for Peace, 2210 Lincoln Blvd. Cost: $5; RSVP online.

>> Venice: The Green Screen Environmental Film Festival & Salon kicks off tonight with a free Sustainable Drive-In. Everyone’s invited to a free outdoor solar-powered screening of Flipper , preceded by a concert by Tom Freund. The kid-friendly event will offer face-painting and a “giant jumper.” Festivities happen from 5 pm – 8 pm at Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice.

>> Koreatown: C.I.C.L.E.’s Joe Linton — whom you may have seen at the Blogger Beach Cleanup — will talk about Creating Great Places To Bike! The event also includes a slideshow, short films, and handouts to get you biking — and to turn you into a bike activist. Be there Thurs., Nov. 19 from 7 pm – 9 pm at LA Eco Village, 117 Bimini Pl., Los Angeles. Cost: $5.

More eco-events are happening all weekend, from a furoshiki class to the Great L.A. Walk!

The day after Thanksgiving’s Black Friday to most Americans — who’ll hit the malls and shopping centers to shop for the holidays, taking the retail industry out of the red and into a profitable black. But for many environmentalists, anti-consumerists, and Adbusters fans, that Friday’s known as Buy Nothing Day — a 24-hour fast from consumer culture.

A day-long moratorium won’t make up for binge shopping all the other days of the year, of course, but the intent of Buy Nothing Day’s to get people thinking about their general shopping habits — or protesting them, if they’re already unhappy with runaway capitalism that leads to waste, pollution, and stressful holidays.

This year, the organizers at Adbusters are calling not just for a break from shopping, but a “Wildcat General Strike” that’ll get even more attention:

We want you to not only stop buying for 24 hours, but to shut off your lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off of your computer for the day.

We’re calling for a Ramadan-like fast. From sunrise to sunset we’ll abstain en masse, not only from holiday shopping, but from all the temptations of our five-planet lifestyles.

Think of it as a Buy Nothing Day plus Earth Hour plus World Carfree Day, all in one — then get excited for the big green challenge! Among the challenges: How will activists use the recommended #bnd09 hashtag when they’ve turned all their electronics off? Hmmm….. A mystery….

Can’t turn off everything? Neither can I, because I do have to work that day, which means turning on my computer. But I do really plan to keep my car parked, my wallet undisturbed, and my TV black on Nov. 27. And if I get in the habit of doing those things more often the rest of the year, I’ll be doing a lot of good for the planet — and my bank account — and my general stress levels….

Buy Nothing Day are happening in locations around the world, so if you’d like company to spend no money with, sign up for those events or plan your own! And if you’re already ready for a bigger challenge, some Adbusters are gearing up for a whole Buy Nothing Christmas.

Earlier: Buy Nothing Day 2005 and 2006. Not sure what I did the last couple years….

Image via Adbusters

Put together by Reel Green Media, an environmental consulting company for the entertainment industry, The Sustainable Sirens campaign’s designed around six costumes — each made by costume designer Kresta Lins with items normally discarded after production, and each with its own eco-theme like energy efficiency or e-waste.

So far, just one pilot dress has been made (illustrated photo above). Dubbed “Let Them Recycle!”, the costume features typical waste in the costume department — and has already been on display at Paramount Pictures!

According to Lauren Selman, founder of Reel Green Media, the remaining five dresses will be created by Earth Day 2010.The upcycled costumes will then serve as the centerpieces for a larger public service campaign, which will include informational posters featuring the costumes that crew members and others working in the industry can refer to, a traveling eco-educational exhibit of the costumes, and an online campaign with practical greening tips for those in the entertainment industry.

Angelenos can see the pilot dress in person at a sustainable fashion event tomorrow, Nov. 19 from 5 pm – 8 pm at fashion boutique Code C, 8641 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Everyone’s invited to enjoy a free glass of champagne while toasting The Sustainable Sirens campaign — and a trunk show for eco-fashion line Re-Collection, made entirely out of upcycled materials by designer PJ Faulstick.

Image via Reel Green Media