Los Angeles, the land of celluloid and silicone, is quietly becoming the "it" spot for green gatherings. Last month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hosted hundreds of the world’s environmental leaders at a two-day Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills, where President-elect Barack Obama made a video address pledging to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. “Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. The stakes are too high,” Obama concluded to thunderous applause.

Earlier this week, Hollywood Goes Green held its second annual conference inviting entertainment, media and advertising folks to learn how to go green without ending up in the red. And our tough economic climate may account for the confab’s robust turnout; who isn’t looking for greater efficiency at lower cost?

Speakers tackled a range of topics like financing environmentally themed films, ways to incorporate green initiatives in ad campaigns, sustainable building for studios and sets, and how to go paperless. A Fox Studios session showed video of Keifer Sutherland boasting how “24” was first to become a carbon neutral production. In the coming months, Fox’s website will post a guide detailing green vendors and services to assist other productions for news, sports, film, TV and event planning.

One curious choice for a keynote speaker was General Motors Environment and Energy Communications Group Manager Dave Barthmuss, who also appears in the film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”. In the late 1990s, GM controversially discontinued their EV1 electric car, and in subsequent years, ignored our need for alternative fuel vehicles. Adding insult, Dave’s boss, CEO Richard Wagoner, was recently slammed with deserved harsh press for taking the corporate jet to D.C. to beg for taxpayer’s bailout cash. Perhaps Dave was instrumental when Wagoner made his second desperate plea, this time driving across the four states in a black hybrid Chevy Malibu.

Making informed, responsible choices is what it’s all about. And to make that even easier, the conference organizers, iHollywood Forum, distributed a Hollywood Goes Green Handbook detailing guidelines and strategies addressed at the conference. Check their website to download the pdf.

In my quest to find the best eco programming out there, I endured a green TV marathon, during which I sat through dozens of hours of enviro-themed shows: specials, regular series, network, cable, news and weather channels.

My once-green eyes have turned red, my DVR remote thumb is raw, and my REM sleep is overrun with images of global warming, endangered species and, even scarier, a couple of corny TV "personalities."

Here, in no particular order, is the best of what's out there:

1. Big Ideas for a Small Planet

(series, Sundance/SUND) Last year, longtime activist Robert Redford announced a much-anticipated green block of programming on the Sundance Channel, and "the kid" did not disappoint, starting with this gem of a show. Simplicity rules with each episode exploring a single topic like water, kids, work, cities and fashion.

In the gadgets episode, we learn that "electronic gadgets have greatly improved energy efficiency, yet their toxic components can be harmful to the environment." Local green heroes and activists across America drive each show, giving the series a homespun, accessible feel. Their stories are interspersed with scientists and eco experts but it's never a lecture...just the facts, ma'am.

2. Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff

(series, Planet Green/PLGN) Anchor Bob Woodruff's weekly eco newscast explores everything from climate change impact to world events. In a recent episode Woodruff checks out Sarah Palin's environmental track record and delves into how the greening of Wall Street (a green collar workforce and eco-friendly jobs) will affect our future. Packed with facts, debates and interviews, and moving at the brisk pace you'd expect from an ABC News production, this show makes a difference.

3. Living With Ed

(series, Planet Green/PLGN) Props to Planet Green for plucking this show from HGTV, who unceremoniously dumped it. Yes...Ed Begley, Jr. lives! Sure, Ed's scenes with his "holdout" wife Rachelle can seem contrived as they often wink to the camera, but at the heart of this show is Ed himself, a true eco warrior who deserves all the screen time he gets. Ed is like the uber nerd who grew into a thoughtful Earth daddy and was at it way before many of us even cared. His wife and daughter are fun accessories, but the real story and soul is Hollywood's green guru.

In this show, celebrities flock to Ed to get secrets and in turn, he puts the spotlight on green stars and their innovative lifestyles. Ed's rivalry with neighbor Bill Nye "the Science Guy" (see "Stuff Happens") is particularly fun to watch; one can't help but believe some of their repartee is actually real competition.

Maybe it's because I'm cranky that an 8-mile car trip just took me 50 minutes to drive. Or it could be that I've seen one-too-many Pamela Anderson interviews where her caricature cleavage outshines her pro-PETA messages.

Plain and simple (the way Sarah Palin likes to think), sometimes Hollywood is annoying. And though I may be biting the hand that feeds me, right now I need to get these irritations off my non-silicone chest.

Read on for the complete list of The 5 Most Annoying Green Trends in Hollywood...

The 90210 zip may still be home to the massive mansions we first caught glimpses of on "The Beverly Hillbillies," but these days The Clampetts are converting their estates to green, and not the kind you roll in. It seems the Beverly Hills City Council is borrowing a page from the eco-friendly handbook by offering incentives for homeowners to build or remodel in an energy efficient manner.

The famed city also recently passed a Green Building ordinance mandating environmentally friendly requirements for commercial and multi-family developments. We can only hope that speculator Donald Trump is mindful of these eco initiatives since lately he's been snapping up several acres of properties around the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Happily, there are many Hollywood-types we can count on to pave the way toward eco-conscious abodes. Take Johnny Depp-in 2005, the star converted his Bahamas island home to run on solar hydrogen technology. Depp's eco enlightenment may have rubbed off on his "Pirates of the Caribbean" costar Orlando Bloom. Last year Bloom built an enviro-friendly house in London. "It's as green as I can make it," Bloom said on green design website Inhabitat. "It's got solar panels on the roof, energy efficient light bulbs-newer technology basically that is environmentally friendly."

Then there are stars that take it to the max, like musician and longtime activist Jackson Browne. His Malibu ranch home is completely off the grid, and is far from running on empty. The airy barn-style house has two loft bedrooms, two guest bedrooms, skylights and tons of windows. "It's made out of masonry and rebar in a way that it stays cool all year round," Browne's live-in girlfriend Dianna Cohen told "Living with Ed," a Planet Green series starring Ed Begley, Jr.

Browne's dwelling is powered by wind turbine and solar panels; a solar-weather measuring station sits atop the property and a well provides water. "I regard this place as sort of an ongoing experiment," Browne said. "I think if you set out to do it all at once, it might seem like a huge expense, but we've done it a little bit at a time." Maybe Browne can share his expertise with Dennis Haysbert ("24," "The Unit"), who is reportedly building his own off the grid Malibu digs.

Ed Begley, Jr., Jackson Browne and Katey Sagal.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" producer Phil Rosenthal may not be off the grid but his house is eco-friendly cool, replete with recycled cork floors, denim insulation and a waterless urinal. Rosenthal and his actress wife Monica (she played Brad Garrett's wife on "Raymond") even recycled the show's set furniture-Frank and Marie's kitchen table sits in their guesthouse.

Shhhh. Don't tell the kids, but these movies are not just fun to watch, they're good for them. However, do note that not all of these may be appropriate for wee ones or sensitive kids. Make sure to read details on film before screening for your child.

Ferngully: The Last Rain Forest (1992)
Ferngully is a rain forest filled with fairies that believe humans exist only in stories. That is until a human tries to destroy the rain forest. Look for a logging machine called "The Leveler" and the evil Hexxus who gets his power from "drinking" pollution. Ugh.

Stars Tim Curry, Robin Williams, Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, Cheech and Chong and others.

Finding Nemo (2003)
A clownfish is taken from his coral reef home and his fretful father braves the Australian waters to find him. Best line from Bruce the shark: "I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food."

Stars Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garret, Geoffrey Rush, Elizabeth Perkins and others.

Over The Hedge (2005)
TV Guide called this movie about creatures that wake from hibernation to find their forest half gone, "A sly satire of American 'enough is never enough' consumerism and blind progress at the expense of the environment."

Stars Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Syke, William Shatner, Nick Nolte and Avril Lavigne.

Don't get us wrong -- we're fully aware that a plethora of celebs took pauses for causes this summer. There were Myanmar fundraisers, stars entertaining the troops, Miley Cyrus helping children and the Jonas Brothers working for diabetes. Even Leonard Nimoy championed thin-challenged women with a book of his photographic collection called "Full Body Project."

While Spock was lending his support to the fleshiest, who was helping save the environment?

Harrison Ford whipped in to Oceana's SeaChange Summer Party where, he and actor Sam Waterson were honored for their conservation efforts. The evening's event raised a cool million, and played host to Ford's longtime gal pal Calista Flockhart, eternal Annie Hall-turned L'Oreal model Diane Keaton, Jurassic Jeff Goldblum (whose new flick "Adam Resurrected" just wowed at the Telluride Film Festival), Diane "Unfaithful" Lane and "My Name is Earl" Daddy Beau Bridges.

Ford, fresh off his "Indiana Jones" blockbuster, was joined by sustainability entrepreneur John Picard and Oceana board member Ted Danson, who divulged to Variety that 70% of the world's fisheries are on the brink of collapse.

Danson, who's heading to HBO in the new show "Bored to Death," also cites seafood contamination as an Oceana concern: "One out of every six women of childbearing years has too much mercury in her system to safely give birth to a child without the possibility of neurological damage." Scarier than a Sci-Fi horror tale.

Sci-Fi queen Sigourney "Leave her alone, bitch!" Weaver emceed a New York City Audubon Society lunch honoring Bette Midler. Each year, Midler throws a Hulaween bash in support of the New York Restoration Project.

Weaver, who voiced the space resort's omnipotent computer in the summer smash "WALL-E," told the UK Mirror: "[The movie] is very entertaining but it does have this important message to us Earthlings, that not only MUST we do something but we CAN do something about the fate of the planet. Everyone should see it -- it's not just for kids."

Weaver calls President George W. Bush's environmental record a disgrace and says, "Thank God we are getting a new administration... but it will be a challenging job for whoever takes over. I hope it will be President [Barack] Obama. We must work together and be part of a global approach."

Bill Nye is a long-time environmentalist with a motto: "Leave the world a better place. (Sometimes you gotta pick up somebody else's trash.)"

After a successful run on PBS with "Bill Nye the Science Guy," the multi-hyphenate comedian-TV host-science educator-mechanical engineer is now finding out how "Stuff Happens" on Planet Green's new half hour show (catch it on Tuesdays at 9PM ET). In it, Nye traces where the things we eat, wear, and use come from, and what impact that has on our entire planet.

If anyone's equipped to find links to our stuff and make the information fun, it's this 53-year-old who once had a day job as an engineer and spent nights doing stand-up comedy. "My family is funny," Nye said. "I mean funny in the sense that we make people laugh, not just funny looking."

We talked to Nye about his "feud" with neighbor Ed Begley, Jr., why breakfast matters and got him to confess his biggest eco sin.

TDG: One of your first "Stuff Happens" episodes is about breakfast. What's so special about breakfast and the environment?
Are you kidding? It's the most important meal of the day. It had the iconic story that North American pigs - from where we get bacon - I presume unwillingly are fed feed made with South American anchovies (and herrings and sardines). Farmers say eating fish helps their animals grow to that wonderfully ample size consumers want. Because of this, we're accidentally destroying an ecosystem. It's the story of stories.

How so?
We're seriously depleting the world's anchovy population and leaving the penguins and South American seabirds with nothing to eat. These birds are dangerously close to starving because the anchovy and sardine populations have been decimated.

What can we do?
Strange as it may seem, you could eat more anchovies. This would raise the price of the fish and make anchovy fish feed more costly and less desirable to pig farmers. Also eat organic bacon from pigs raised on 100% agricultural feed. If you're looking for the true organic meat products, make sure it's grass-fed only.

Let's talk about your green competition with neighbor Ed Begley, Jr. On a show last year, he put up a wind turbine and you said you were doing the same ... did you?
No. His didn't work. There were problems with it. But I'll jump back on the bandwagon. To have 500 kilowatts running through my house is well worth it.

Previously we brought you the 10 funniest green viral videos from the Internets. That got us thinking about traditional versus new media, and we realized that all those professional writers, editors, actors and crew out in Hollywood have actually made some funnies too.

Although it can be hard to squeeze good funny out of the global warming crisis and other serious environmental problems, here are our favorite comedic green moments from recent TV shows. Hopefully, these will get even the most serious eco-warrior to chuckle at something.

10. Chris and Jerry's Tips for Green Living on CBS "Late Night with David Letterman"

Comedians Chris Elliot and Gerald Mulligan take on composting. Don't try this at home, kids. Seriously.

9. NBC Green Week: "Survivor Man" on "The Office"

We are so grateful to Steve Carell and Tina Fey for not letting NBC's mandated week of environmental programming feel like we were watching un-aired "Caveman" episodes -- although the zero amount of laughs in "Caveman" created zero methane from viewers. Wait, there were viewers, right?

"Survivor Man" not only stars Carell, he wrote it. "The Office" is about a paper company -- not exactly grounds for eco-friendly material, so Carell went outdoors for the laughs. When HR wonk Toby brags about going on corporate boss Ryan's "wilderness adventure retreat," Michael (Carell) embarks on a solo camping trip wearing nothing but the clothes on his back for his version of "Man vs. Wild."

This is the only clip we could find on Hulu, although it's not really the funniest part of the episode. Oh well, you get the idea.

8. Scrubs, "My Inconvenient Truth" (Episode 703)

The show's moved to a new network on ABC, but they managed to deliver a funny green episode on NBC when the janitor (played by the hysterically funny and comedic genius Neil Flynn) decided to become an "environmental officer" after watching "An Inconvenient Truth."

There's a great clip on Hulu of Flynn in action, though we couldn't embed that one for some reason. Check out this Nature Conservancy PSA instead:

Master skeptics and raconteurs Penn Jillette and Teller recently took the environment to task on Showtime's "Penn and Teller's Bullshit" claiming, among many things, that Al Gore is an energy hog.

The "Being Green" episode brings up the now-old allegation that Gore's 20-room Tennessee mansion uses more electricity each month than the average American uses every 17 months. The sleight of hand sleuths also report that the carbon offset credits Gore purchases come from Generation Investment Management, a company our ex-VP owns.

A wolf features prominently in upcoming PBS coverage.

But despite the Gore-bashing, P&T stopped short of calling global warming bullshit because...they really don't know: "We know that feng shui is bullshit; the Bible is full of bullshit. But global warming? There's evidence the planet is getting warmer, but we can't be sure we're causing it. And even if we did cause it, we don't know that we can fix it. And even if we can fix it, we don't know how."

As expected, the "Being Green" message boards were jammed with protests: "Your Al Gore thing is so blown out of proportion. His electricity is sourced from green energy sources, his mansion doubles as an office. This whole hate outcry generated by the nutty right has long been debunked and here you are bringing it up again."

And: "It's getting pretty ridiculous to deny man-made global warming at this point. Seriously guys, do your homework, interview some real scientists (the ones you claim to love and respect SOOOO much) and you'll find out that your position on this issue is BULLSHIT."

At least the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is keeping it real with "Man-Made: Power Towers"-a documentary (premiered July 31, check for repeats) about building the Bahrain World Trade Center along the Persian Gulf Shores. This 50-story glass-tower is the world's first skyscraper to incorporate wind energy to supply clean power to this ginormous building.

As green continues its steady march into the mainstream, heart of America, some of the world's top touring musicians are getting into the act. From Radiohead to Jack Johnson, Kanye West and more, major recording and performing artists are doing more for the planet.

Jack Johnson

Solar stages are set up and taken down across the country, tour buses are motoring around on biodiesel, recycling and reuse efforts are being stepped up at venues and after parties, and even song lyrics are taking on a green hue (thanks in part to one Miley Cyrus!).

Our intrepid green celebrity blogger, Tommi Lewis Tilden, put together this don't-miss list of Summer's 10 Hottest Green Music Tours. Check it out, and get your tickets before the shows before summer fades out.

"This used to be a soda bottle." So says the print on the lanyard securing my FOX press credential at the TCAs (Television Critics Association) -- a two-week long conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in the very same ballroom the Golden Globes are held, where stars and execs from all the net and cable channels trot out new and returning shows.

Tommy Lee and Ludacris from Planet Green's Battleground Earth

While we can't answer why -- with 200-plus channels -- most TV fare is lame, we can fist-bump the industry for making green strides onscreen and behind the scenes. (Even watching FOX News' latest star Karl Rove smirking on a panel didn't curb our enthusiasm, but more on that later.)

What do you do when Japanese whale hunters ignore the laws (or find a "scientific expedition" loophole), killing more of these magnificent mammals in the past twenty years than ever before? You sic a radical sea-faring crew of eco-pirates on them, of course.

In Animal Planet's intense documentary "Whale Wars" (airs in November), the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, headed by Captain Paul Watson, engage in sea battles with the hunters -- ships are rammed, stink bombs tossed, anti-whaling declarations are broadcast over loud speakers, and whales are chased to safety.

During one confrontation, Watson was shot in the chest (thankfully, he wore a bullet-proof vest), and in another, a grenade was lobbied onto the Sea Shepherd. The Japanese threaten that the fight will get even nastier. But Watson, who was a Greenpeace founder, is unperturbed: "Whaling has no place in the 21st century. Sea Shepherd will not stop until the killing ends."

The showdown between Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd Society and whalers is featured in Animal Planet's "Whale Wars."

A less serious clash pits metal rocker Tommy Lee against rapper Ludacris in Planet Green's "Battleground: Earth," and both talked up their personal green changes. Ludacris just purchased a GM Tahoe hybrid and says he's in the process of plopping solar panels atop his Atlanta home. "Georgia is one of the few states that I know you can charge the power company back for the energy you don't use," he said.

You know something's rotten in D.C. when indie bands like Something Fierce have no choice but to cancel much-anticipated summer tours over mind numbing gas prices. "Once I ran the numbers it was a 'There was no [expletive] way' kind of moment," the band's 23-year-old singer-guitarist Steven Garcia tells USA Today after pulling into a Houston gas station to fill up the band's Dodge tour van.

The Police announce a contribution to MillionTreesNYC with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Gas prices are making a serious dent in our summer music fun. It's not just the bands that can't pony up the travel fees, it's us fans who're already so tapped out 'cause of pump prices that we're hard pressed to buy live music tix without breaking the bank. As Mike Meyers' cooler than "The Love Guru" alter ego Wayne used to say; "That's mental."

But before we spew, vomit or hurl over our sorry state of the union, let's take the high road and do the glass half full thing. Like opting to spend our hard-won greenbacks on the acts that can afford to tour and who're doing it eco-correctly.

Put on the Green Light
If you missed The Police while they were out on their top-grossing 2007 reunion tour, you can catch their last round of U.S. shows in July and August, with Elvis Costello as the opener.

The August 7 finale is at NYC's Madison Square Garden (with The B-52s opening) because, says the group: "We kicked off our very first American tour at CBGB's in 1978, and this summer, 30 years later, our journey will come full circle as we play our final show here in New York City."

Of course, Sting is no stranger to green efforts -- having established The Rainforest Foundation in 1989 with wife Trudie Styler -- and along with bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, will donate $1 million to a NYC program that aims to plant 1 million trees by 2017. "We have a long history here. We wanted to leave a gift with our last performance that would keep on giving year after year, decade after decade -- the gift of trees does do that," said the frontman in looktothestars.org.

Though after this it's Adios, Policia, the group reportedly plans to release a live DVD of concert footage shot in South America.

Ah, summer. Time to roll out the big flicks, beach parties and global grooving. So who's rocking the green?

Planet Green Premiere Party
Discovery's Planet Green threw one heckuva launch concert for their new 24/7-eco channel (debuts June 04) and thedailygreen.com scored a VIP pass to the Tommy Lee/Ludacris headlining love jam. The duo is set to star in "Battleground Earth," where they "fight the toxic forces that threaten Mother Earth." We're buying it.

Tommy Lee and Ludacris on stage.

Comedian Tommy Davidson hosted the fete while aud members tossed giant green balls around L.A.'s beauteous Greek Theater. A surprisingly taut-looking Twisted Sister's Dee Snider belted "We're Not Gonna Take It," followed by more perfs including Christian band Switchfoot, Ziggy Marley and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

PG's newest stars dutifully walked the green carpet, such as a hirsute Tom Green plugging his upcoming game show, celeb announcer Maria Menounos (who hosts "Hollywood Green"), and Bill Nye, making the rounds for "Stuff Happens."

Adrian Grenier and the cast of "The Green Life."

A dapper, suit-sporting Adrian Grenier joined green guru Boise Thomas, sustainable style expert Angela Lindvall and eco-renovation expert Darren Moore to talk about their new series "The Green Life." Grenier recently told TV Guide: "My friends and I get together, turn off all the electricity in the house and go off grid. We enjoy each other's company without distractions from the radio or cell phones -- and our carbon footprint is zero!" Somehow we can't see Turtle, Drama, E or especially Ari digging that scene.

Back to the (Santa Monica) Beach
At the beach city's Pacific Park Pier amusement park, Mrs. Governator Maria Shriver and her kids recently rode the spanking new Ferris Wheel -- a $1.5 million energy-efficient marvel -- at the ride's dedication ceremony. The wheel is solar powered and 75 percent more energy efficient than the previous one, which was auctioned off on Ebay for a whopping $132,400, half of which went to the Special Olympics charity.

The Hulk.

Edward Norton's Incredibly Green Hulk
Edward Norton's been getting some bad press for his "feud" with Marvel over the final cut of "The Incredible Hulk" (in theaters June 13), so he's lay