Reed Takes Leave of Absence to Film “Environmentary”

Al Gore Will Team With Paramount Classics to Distribute Movie

Just minutes after the city council approved Mayor Reed’s “green vision” for San Jose, which sets ambitious goals for the city to reduce energy and support clean technology, he made the surprise announcement that he would take a short leave of absence from the city’s top job to film his version of “An Inconvenient Truth.”

In what Paramount Classics is calling an “environmentary,” the film will showcase Mayor Reed while he narrates and explains his complex vision for pollution-free technology that he hopes the city will adopt over the next 15 years.

“The movie has lots of slides, graphs and funny pictures,” said the mayor. “The acting? Well, that has always just come naturally, thank you.”

Paramount Classics approached Mayor Reed after they saw him delivering his talk (dubbed “the overhead projection presentation”) at the county fair next to the five-legged cow exhibit.

Early screenings have test audiences, industry experts and critics alike fawning over not only the edge-or-your-seat suspense of the movie but the unexpected star power of the mayor.

“I would say there is definite hardware in this man’s future,” said George Clooney, intimating that the mayor could take home several Oscars, most likely for best documentary and lead male actor. “If not, then at least he’s a shoe-in for county supervisor in 2010.”

20 Comments

  1. I’m very pleased that Mayor Reed cares so much about the environment. It’s about time someone in a position to make great change does. One of the things I love about SF is that they do so many great things to ensure green buildings, etc. We can’t wait to create a better planet, we must act now. Once our water sources are gone, they are gone for good. Once our oceans are poluted, our trees, clean air, and our beautiful wildlife is gone, it is gone.
    I know many people think the topic of global warming is a hoax, but I don’t think it is. My hope is we make enough change now so that our children don’t pay the price for our selfishness.

  2. Who’s next to make a soporific enviromentary, the charisma-challenged Jim Beall?

    The documenting of the degradation of our environment is far too important a topic to let the likes of Gore chronicle it.  I saw An Inconvenient Truth @ Camera 12.  The guy next to me was asleep withing fifteen minutes, and I folowed a half hour later.  I awoke to find my neighbor still snoring.  AlGore is so incredibly BORING!!The message is easily lost due to the dull, insipid delivery of Mr. Gore.  Can’t they re-dub the narration using someone who can at least keep viewers awake?

  3. Kathleen,
    I couldn’t agree more. 

    People are the cause of our environmental woes and I would certainly hope those most concerned refrain from having children so that the planet may survive.

    Now is not the time for hypocrisy.

  4. Dear John:

    You’re misinformed.  In the documentary, Chuck Reed’s role will be played by either James Taylor or Clint Eastwood.  (think about it).

    Seriously, I’ll bet that the new city hall complex is the most anti-green building west of the Mississippi.  No solar, no trees, no “vision.”

    Pete Campbell

  5. Yesterday my neighbor told me that as part of his green vision Chuck Reed is going to require city employees to wear rebreather apparatus to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by breathing city workers.

    I thought my neighbor was crazy, but this being the bay area and all, I thought I’d check here first.

  6. John,
    Is it true that Soylent Green is now being served in the CH cafeteria? 

    Can anyone in the know confirm or deny?

    Note to those CH’ers close to retirement – watch your back!

  7. #3- Novice, you bring up a very excellent point. I thought it was just me who noticed that there are way too many people having multiple children. (I love children by the way, that’s not my point.) What’s up with this baby boom? Isn’t anyone paying attention in class? We are overcrowding this planet, draining its resources so badly; I’m very concerned there won’t be a planet that is habitable for our next generation, never mind wildlife.
    Recently, I saw Leonardo DeCaprio’s film. (I thought it was a lot better than Al Gore’s.) I was pretty hopeful in some regards because it helped me understand the ways I can make a difference. Does anyone know much about Hybrid cars? I’ve heard good and bad things about them. Namely, I hear the gas mileage isn’t as great as we’ve been told.
    #4- Pete- You are absolutely correct. How sad given the millions it is costing us. A bit of green planning could have saved us millions, and made San Jose one of the leaders in paving the way to responsible building practices!

  8. I own no car, I only use VTA Buses and walk

    I live in a 300 square foot apartment

    I have created no children

    I recycle my household waste

    I own no iPods, CD players, computers, DVD players or any other electronic gadgetry

    My environmental footprint is very small

  9. I must disagree with Novice #13 who wrote:“and I would certainly hope those most concerned refrain from having children so that the planet may survive.”

    Uh, Novice, I think that the environmentally unconcious would then outbreed the hell out of the world, and we’d be up the proverbial creek, paddle-less.  The plain fact is those who cannot support their children and nurture them properly are outbreeding the educated, environmentally concious folks.

    The Catholic Church (full disclosure, I was raised Catholic but have been a non-believer for a few decades now) keeps preaching that Old Testament “Go ye forth & multiply” nonsense when we need the opposite.  Even the Golf Channel has this insipid guy talking about poor Raquel in some unnamed South American country who doesn’t get enough to eat; so we’ll get a photo and a story if we send a few bucks a month.  The money would be better spent on vasectomies and Norplant for the people who just keep popping out kids they cannot feed or educate.

    I believe it was the late Robert Hutchins from the old Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Sta. Barabara who postulated in the early 70’s that the next great war would be a food war, with the undeveloped-but-breeding-like-minks-folks in the southern hemisphere would overwhelm the developed world by sheer numbers.

    But maybe it will be the Chinese, who have shipped enough lead-laden goods throughout the world to turn the next generation of kids into developmental zombies.

    Novice #6—do the city workers ever work hard enough to require much breathing?

    So, George #8—since U own nothing, how do you post to this place?

  10. Lets retrofit city workers and cover them head to toe with solar panels and batteries. Then when they go out for their daily walk, from the world according to Pierluigi Oliverio, they can recharge the batteries which can then be used to power city hall. City workers should also be limited in their personal daily flatulence
    output to cut down on greenhouse emmissions. According to Councilman Olivierio, who recently met with Eric Larsen, President of AFSCME Local 101, 15% of city workers are responsible for 80% of the flatulence. In another move, the council is considering banning flatulating in all public parks to reduce greenhouse emmissions and spoiling picnics.

  11. 14 – If you ever gave equal time to the right-wing nut jobs your comments might have a little more credibility. But, you just love to blame all the ills of the world on just one side of the political spectrum.
    So, until and unless you see the world as a mix of all colors, stripes, ideologies, etc. we’ll just see your comments for what they are—biased, right-wing talk radio pablum.
    Do have a nice weekend but watch out behind you—they’re everywhere, you know.

  12. #15- I am a big believer on population control, but I think the point JMO is making is that if intelligent folks like you, Novice, Frustrated Fin Fan etal, stop procreating and let’s say people who are unpatriotic, or people who couldn’t figure their way out of a wet paper bag do, we’ll end up in a world filled with pin heads. As a person who works with harden criminals, and hard core racist, I must tell you that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Much of the criminal behaviors, and racist attitudes I’ve dealt with, do come from a family environment of like mindedness, or behavior.
    I do agree with you that blaming one group or fraction doesn’t work because everyone has a varied perspective on things, and this makes the world a much lover place to be. It also encourages self-growth, and a better way to resolve important issues.

  13. I post to SJI from my work computer. 

    Nothing wrong with people buying cars, computers, homes, electronics, etc. – it keeps the economy rolling along.  I admit if most people lived my lifestyle our consumer based economy would take a major tumble.

  14. #17 – I don’t view porn, I’m a very old man.

    But since this thread is about the environment and I brought up age and you brought up porn – do you know, that I’m so old, I remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.

  15. “…they’re everywhere, you know.”

    Boy you got that right. 

    Kibitz outside of sports, weather, and traffic in a checkout line in the bay area and you’re just as likely as not to have an “invasion of the body snatchers” encounter.

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