Just When You Thought the ‘Green’ Movement Couldn’t Get Any Weirder

By Stuart James | August 16, 2007 | 16:31

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Matt Damon dressed as gas pump? Ben Affleck as an ear of corn? No, it’s not “Good Will Hunting,” the sequel. It’s a new set of videos promoting ethanol mandates on the Web site cleanmyride.org.

The Clean My Ride site is run by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, an arm of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. The purpose of Clean My Ride is to urge Congress to mandate ethanol as a fuel.

Earlier this week, NBC’s Lee Cowan admitted it was ethanol’s fault milk prices were “skyrocketing.” So which is it? Do environmentalists want better gas mileage or cheaper milk?

One of the other main points of the Web site is to try and get people to stop “running scared from Big Oil.” The first video, which features Affleck in a corn costume – it’s better than “Gigli” – even shows a sequence where “Big Oil” executives are chasing down an ear of corn and then bludgeoning it to death.

The site encourages visitors to send this message to Congress (emphasis added):

Dear Representative:America must increase its energy independence and stop global warming. To accomplish these goals, I strongly urge you to vote for provisions that require cars and light trucks get 35 miles per gallon by 2020, and to require some service stations sell ethanol for flexible fuel cars. These two measures will reduce oil use, save families money, and lower global warming pollution. Please support them as essential parts of energy legislation.

The site also features six videos following the main character “Phin” who does whatever he can to try and convince people to help him on “his quest to save the environment.”

Other videos feature celebrities Sarah Silverman, Jason Biggs, Joshua Jackson and Jennifer Garner.

-Stuart James is a Research Analyst at the Business & Media Institute.