While researching the “greening” of this year’s Academy Awards, I came across a lot of bloggers from within the environmental community itself bemoaning the ceremony. A number of hardcore greenies were claiming that the Awards greening effort hadn’t gone far enough. The cars might have been electric, but why didn’t they run on vegetable oil? Materials had been printed on 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper, but why not 50 percent? The Oscars had been made partially from recycled material, but why weren’t previously-awarded statuettes reclaimed, refurbished, and re-awarded? Whoopi Goldberg only uses hers as a door jam and Cuba Gooding Jr. lost his at a bachelor party in Miami!"

One verdant celebrity basher said, “"I wonder how many of these 'green' celebs took transit and not a gas guzzling limo to the event?" Another chimed in, “It would've been better if somebody actually bothered showing that they WERE contributing to a lighter carbon footprint. Leo talking about buying a smaller house. George Clooney riding a train."

Although responsible for these celebrities' fame and wealth, we – the public -can only hope that they use all that money and airtime for positive endeavors. But to expect them to travel to the Oscars on the subway in lieu of taking an environmentally-friendly hybrid car is absurd. George Clooney in a tux on the LA Metro on Oscar night? Get real! He’d be mobbed! And judging Leonardo DiCaprio for the size of his house is reactionary at best. Who's to say he doesn't offset his carbon emissions? Maybe we can dig up his utility bills and demean all his efforts!

Al Gore’s award winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” caught a lot of the furor. “That movie puts me off my tempeh, with its hopeful ending and upbeat can-do message,” said Wendy Laired on greenoptions.com. “I haven’t seen it, but I know enough about it to condemn it outright. It’s a salve for people who want to believe they can alter the history of our ecosphere by driving a Prius and reusing paper bags. They can’t. Their mere existence all but guarantees the doom of carbon-negative earth lovers like myself."

If Wendy is right, than we should all down a couple dozen Vicodens and call it a day. We typically expect this kind of unforgiving condemnation from Bill O'Reilly. The remark is made all the more offensive by the author's admitted lack if exposure to the very thing she's critiquing. It seems strange that a carbon-negative earth-lover would dedicate precious blogging-time to belittling hybrid-driving recyclers when there are so many Hummers out there.

Having zero environmental impact is impossible, and using this kind of judgmental language against one another only undermines our good work and discourages the average Joe from attempting even a fraction of what Al Gore does to be green. We really have no place passing judgment on someone if we haven't even tried to reach and educate them, and as far as reaching goes, it's hard to beat 38 million viewers. The Academy Awards were going to happen this February regardless of how environmentally friendly they were, and this year’s ceremony was an undeniable step in the right direction towards a future when "greening" won't exist as a term anymore, because it will be a given.

That’s my take on it at least. What do you think?