This is environmentalism we can get behind: NYC assemblyman Michael DenDekker has proposed a bill to "create a statewide cigarette butt recycling program." There's money in it, for everyone! Five reasons this is the smartest thing we've heard today.

Is John Kerry the real-life Captain Planet? No. But in a lot of ways, Yes! On Thursday, Kerry, alongside Joe Lieberman ("Heart"), introduced his thousand-page climate bill, the American Power Act. Let us answer your Frequently Asked Questions regarding it.

Dispatched to the Amazon by Hollywood to woo natives and steal their charming stories, James Cameron is torn between following his orders and protecting the rustic simplicity he loves, because it reminds him of a big-budget CGI blockbuster about aliens.

At long last, the president has a plan that will prove his commitment to bipartisanship. Today he will introduce a new offshore oil and gas drilling proposal along the East Coast. Thankfully, the Jersey Shore will be spared. [NYT]

Mayor Bloomberg flew his gas-guzzling private jet over to Copenhagen yesterday for the UN climate change summit that's now underway. And it already looks like it was well worth the trek: Bloomberg has been inspired! In addition to announcing plans to revisit the concept of congestion pricing, an idea that failed miserably last year, Bloomberg is once again talking up the idea of setting up a giant windmill farm to generate clean energy. This time around, Bloomberg isn't thinking about planting the windmills in NYC. His new idea? Erect them off 15 miles offshore, so they'll be "barely visible from shore" and city residents won't be able whine about how their views have been ruined. All that's left to do is come up with a few billion bucks to pay for it all, and he'll be good to go. [NYDN, NYT]

"Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to raise awareness about how white rooftops can make buildings cooler and more efficient, but the city hasn't painted hundreds of its own buildings." That isn't the only building that needs a paint job, clearly! [AP]

If you see a group of people sitting on a patch of artificial turf in the street and you're not sure why they're there or what they're doing, you're probably unaware that today is Park(ing) Day NYC, "an international event that reclaims parking spots and transforms them into engaging, people-friendly public spaces for one day a year." Event organizers are expecting a big turnout as they convert the parking spots into miniature parks once again this year. And there you were thinking there wasn't any upside to the news NYC's unemployment rate now stands at a 14-year high. [Gothamist]

"Survivaball." Read all about it on the website. "Worried About Climate Change? Don't sweat it." Instead, you can wear a ridiculous rubber-ball body suit to protect you from the ravages of global warming. It's an example of the world's largest corporations using engineering to replace ethics, with humorous results, etc.

For the sake of fitness, American college students are being asked to waddle back to their all-you-can-eat cafeteria buffets each time they want a new plateful of hot ham-n-cheese sandwiches and ranch dressing-laden iceberg lettuce. Too much to ask?

Stop griping about global warming. Sure, it's melting our ice caps, but that means that ships can steer a more direct route through the Arctic, as two German vessels are doing. Economic Darwinism at work, people. Yay! [NY Times]

Google was once happy to help us find things on the wild, wild web. The company has obviously grown past that point, but could it soon be savior of the entire world? Possibly and probably.

Idle-gate appears to have reached its conclusion. Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg was totally busted for allowing the SUVs that ferry him around town to idle for hours while waiting for him. Now comes word the mayor has informed his staff that he plans to set a better example in the future. Let's hope so! [NYDN, previously]

The greatest threat to the environment, according to extensive reporting by the Associated Press? The mayor, that's who:

Bernie Madoff is going to be serving his til-death sentence at Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina. Why there? Nobody knows, really! But it won't be so bad for Bernie—he'll have landscaping, environmentalism, and a hospital bed.

World Water Week ad requires you to waste water to read it. Conceptual failure #2.

Mayor Bloomberg may have been slow to update the decorations outside his East 79th Street townhouse, but he reports he's been better about keeping up to date on the inside. The mayor says he's converted almost all of the lights in his house to compact fluorescent bulbs," and "walks around his home to shut off lights [and] open windows." As for whether he drags newspapers, glass bottles, and other recyclables to the curb himself, he didn't say, but let's just assume he does until he says otherwise. [Newsday]

When did the New York Times Op-Ed page decide to revert to the loopy environmentalism of the 1970s? The latest commercial disguised as a broadside features an author who wants to change the way we wee.

As dismaying as it is when environmentalists' paranoid doom-mongering is shown to have some basis in reality, a new study has revealed that exposure to "perfluorinated chemicals" can cause fertility problems. PFCs are also found in various products including non-stick pans, face creams, shampoo, and nail polish. The obvious solution? Don't ever cook for yourself, seek out safer, more eco-friendly beauty products, and if that means boosting the income of Kate Hudson, well, we'll all just have to learn to live with that. [Bloomberg]

Yuppie cokeheads, stop snorting massive rails for the sake of the endangered tree frogs! That's the new anti-drug message coming out of the UK. And it just might work! You might not stop for the sake of your money, your police record, or your septum, but would you give up blow if you knew that every eight ball cost ten square meters of precious rainforest habitat, you Whole Foods junkie? It's true, according to the vice president of Colombia!