Earl digs global warming, man...

Earl of 'My Name Is' fame jumped on the global warming band wagon, in last night's episode on Channel 4.

After spending too much time reading serious science and a litany of polarised views over the last two months, it was good to see climate change treated with a lighter touch. Christian Slater even guest stars building dung houses, "hey when it rains our houses melt, we just build them again". You can't argue with that.

Newsbusters summarises the episode well, although is suspicious of NBC's Gore-esque lefty motives. Check out the comments for the usual range of strong views.

A less right of centre overview is here - closer to the tone of the episode which I didn't think was preachy. You just can't seem to mention the two big Cs in any context these days without get strong reactions on all sides.

Some snippets from the show taken from Newsbusters blog, Darnell (as always) is inspired:

“Earl (Jason Lee) and his brother meet a commune of “hippie people” who convince them “we got to keep reducing greenhouse gases and reverse global warming.”

The two regulars enter the commune to give Earl a chance to make amends to a former stoner name Woody (played by Christian Slater). They (and the audience watching at home) end up getting lectured about the evils of climate change complete with charts.

As Earl explained “By the end, I was freaking out” and so was his brother Randy. “Hey, this is messed up, man. Does anyone else know about this? 'Cause we should tell the president,” Earl exclaimed.

Afterward, Earl became a complete convert and purchased a litany of loot – “Florescent bulbs that use less electricity. Reusable hemp bags for shopping. And look. Shampoo that's not tested on animals. I feel bad for those lab animals running around with dirty hair, but if it's better for the environment, that's the sacrifice they have to make.”

He then vows that he’s “going to fix” global warming and goes to his ex-wife Joy’s house to convert her. When she mentioned her husband had planned to pour used oil into the creek, Earl says: “You can't pour oil in the creek. If you do, the bar graph goes up, the pie chart gets bigger. The next thing you know, you got a big picture of the Earth with a sweaty forehead and a sad face.”

Only Joy’s new husband Darnell dared to question with this line: “I do care. I'm just not sure global warming is caused by man. I think it's a bit anthropocentric to think humans could have that much effect.”

Finally, Earl had a complete “meltdown” while the Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” played in the background. (“Paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”) Earl returned to the commune where he got sage advice from Woody/Slater, "If everyone would take 5 minutes a day to do something they normally wouldn't do then we wouldn't have this problem"

Just as it seemed he might actually make sense, Woody/Slater threw out: “Oh, and, uh, you know what they said about eating an apple a day? Don't, 'cause they're loaded with pesticides.”