The eco-celebrity you've never heard of…yet

Pop quiz: Who is the coolest environmental celebrity you know of? Come on now… anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?

I thought so.

Maybe you said Al Gore, but I would argue that while he's famous and generally a good political force, he's not cool enough to be an eco-celebrity. And unless you're a geek about it and follow things like the Plastiki boat getting built out of plastic bottles for a Pacific Ocean voyage, your exposure to environmental issues is probably along the lines of cataclysm, gloom and doom, a la New York Times and the evening news.

But in this world of Hollywood and advertising, haven't we all realized by now that what we really need to rally the people and make a dent in the environmental issue is a superhero eco-celebrity? I think, snark or no, you've got to go check out Philippe Cousteau, people. He's got the name. He's much cooler than Al Gore, and he's not leaning on a gimmick like a boat made out of plastic bottles.

He's got two mission statements on his site that are essentially impossible to disagree with:

"My mission is to help people find hope and recognize their ability to change the world."

"I share my grandfather and father's vision of a world where every child can breathe fresh air, drink clean water and walk on green grass under a blue sky."

I think we would all like those things, Mr. Cousteau. The exceptions would, perhaps, be the evil villains in superhero stories who are out to destroy the world for their own inexplicable reasons.

He's got a TV show on CNN, he's a speaker and he's just getting started. I think the environmental movement needs more of this - people who make it cool to be environmentally conscious, people who are hawking hope and poetry and, most importantly, people who you admire rather than fear.

Image courtesy of PhilippeCousteau.com