Al Gore and The Alliance for Climate Protection have announced that they are interested in creating a new .eco domain name extension. The .eco domain extension will be for individuals to express their support for environmental causes, for companies to promote their environmental initiatives, and for environmental organizations to maintain their websites in a namespace that is more relevant to their core missions.

“We fully support Dot Eco LLC in its efforts to secure the .eco top level domain through the ICANN application process and look forward to working with Dot Eco LLC to promote .eco. This is a truly exciting opportunity for the environmental movement and for the internet as a whole,” said Al Gore.

But what is more exciting than a new “green” domain extension is that a majority of the profits generated from the sales of the .eco domains will be distributed to support environmental causes and organizations.

Cathy Zoi, CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection said that: “The .eco initiative, as proposed by Dot Eco LLC, is a unique approach for fundraising for nonprofit environmental organizations such as ours. We are thrilled to be working with Dot Eco LLC to generate funds for our organization and to promote awareness of climate change.”

“It is an honor and a privilege to be working with Al Gore and Cathy Zoi on the .eco initiative,” said Fred Krueger, CEO of Dot Eco LLC. “We are confident that we will generate substantial funds for the Alliance for Climate Protection to promote their efforts to increase awareness of climate change.”

Dot Eco LLC will be applying for the .eco domain name extension idea through the ICANN gTLD application process in late 2009. So maybe in a near future you will read this blog on www.green-blog.eco?

His name is David and he recently turned 7 years old. Rather than ask for remote control cars and video games, he asked for donations, all of which he gave to the Alliance for Climate Protection (our nonprofit that houses the We Campaign). Accompanying the money was a hand written note, in unmistakably 7-year old handwriting:

“Dear Alliance for Climate Protection. I am sending you chek’s that add up to 400$ that I collected at my 7th birthday party insted of presents. thank you for trying to save the earth. love David feigeison.”

As any teacher or parent knows, sometimes it is the simplest acknowledgments that carry the most meaning. Taped to our office refrigerator door, this note is an inspiring reminder of the importance of our mission. Unless the necessary actions are taken now, unless policymakers step up and pass smart legislation, unless the international community comes together and commits to changing their energy consumption patterns, David’s generation will find themselves raising their kids in a world that looks drastically different from that of today. The time to address this issue is now. We owe it to David to help ensure that our children inherit a healthy planet.

Let’s hope that the older generation doesn’t continue to wreck the climate and the planet in their race for short-term economic gains. After all, they are borrowing the planet from David and the rest of the younger generation.

Also read: Angry kids against the grownups inaction

“The reality is that there’s not a single home or business in America today powered by clean coal,” said Brian Hardwick of the Alliance for Climate Protection. “If coal really wants to be part of America’s energy future, the industry can start by making a real commitment to eliminating their pollution that is a leading cause of global warming.”

Hardwick continued: “It is high time for the coal industry to come clean and admit to the American people that today clean coal is not a reality. No matter how much they say it in their advertising, coal can’t truly be clean until the plants can capture global warming pollution. With so much at stake, we can’t afford to hang our hats on an illusion.”

A multi-million dollar ad campaign featuring ads in print, TV commercials and online ads will help spread the message.

You can take a look at their very first print ad here, which shows a solitary door labelled “Clean Coal Facility Entrance.” Behind the door, though, lies a barren field. “In reality, there’s no such thing as clean coal,” the ad states.

The first TV commercial follows the same theme and can be viewed below:

I do believe the message that there exists no “clean coal” technology got out perfectly clear in both the print and TV ad. But Joe from the Climate Progress blog thinks otherwise:

“Their inaugural ad violates a central rule of messaging, rhetoric, and psychology: Don’t keep repeating a strong word the other side is trying to push.”

What do you think about the advertisements? Will they do a good job debunking the “clean coal” lie?

Yesterday Al Gore launched the We Campaign. It’s a $300 million 3-year effort “to mobilize Americans on climate change.”

The campaign will focus on sending out its message using mainly TV and print ads. People will be urged to go to the We Campaign website and sign the petition for a global treaty on climate change, urge the press to ask questions about climate change and learn more about global warming, the solutions and how they can personally minimize their environmental impact.

The ads will show, by featuring people like Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, that both conservatives and liberals can rally around the climate crisis (You can see the very first advertisement that will be aired on TV after the jump).

The We Campaign is backed up by Alliance for Climate Protection. Organisations like the Girl Scouts of the USA, Conservation Federation of Missouri, Earth Day Network, Colorado Wildlife Federation and many others is partnering with the We Campaign to bring in grassroots organisations to the campaign.

To be able to fund this huge campaign Al Gore will donate all profits from the An Inconvenient Truth book and movie. He will also donate his Nobel Prize money and a matching sum from his own personal money stash.

Below you can find a interview from 60 Minutes with Al Gore about the new campaign (“- Like the Vice President?” “- Hahaha”). And, ah, the irony when you have to watch a car commercial before and after the actual video interview.

Interview with Al Gore:

The first TV ad: