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Your World Today
Polar Regions Losing Ground to Global Warming; Wal-Mart Says it Will be More Earth Friendly; Queen Elizabeth II Tours Jamestown Settlement
Aired May 04, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's action that counts, not meeting in a room and talking about what you might do, but getting on with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The hard truth. Climate experts say the world already has what it takes to fight global warming. Now it is up to the people and their governments to act.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The cold facts. Even in the Arctic Circle, vast oceans of ice are shrinking as the temperature rises.
CLANCY: And a message from Her Majesty. Britain's Queen Elizabeth marks a special anniversary in Jamestown, USA.
MCEDWARDS: And "West Side Story" as you have never seen it before. An American filmmaker takes a humorous look at the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
CLANCY: It is midnight right now in Bangkok, Thailand, noon in Jamestown.
Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.
I'm Jim Clancy.
MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards.
From Israel, to the West Bank, where you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Well, the world has the technology, even the money to effectively fight global warming. All it needs now is the will.
CLANCY: That is the conclusion of a major United Nations report on climate change that calls for urgent action at every level.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN SINGER, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: The commonly perceived thinking that fighting climate change costs a lot of money, will harm the economy, will burden citizens, and will compromise the necessary economic growth and poverty alleviation in many developing countries, that is -- to be very diplomatic, that is utter nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Scientists say the world must dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions. They are recommending governments shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and boost the energy efficiency of buildings and cars.
MCEDWARDS: They also say every one of us can help by doing simple things, like turning down the thermostat, or switching to more efficient light bulbs.
Well, scientists say the world can't wait. Some areas are already losing ground to global warming.
Our Becky Anderson went to the top of the world, quite literally, to see for herself just how much the ice caps are shrinking.
She warmed up a bit now. She's back in London. She joins us now with her report.
Hey, Becky.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You can say that again. I've thawed out in what are historically higher temperatures here in London, of course, in the spring.
With a latitude of 85 degrees north and 12 degrees east, we traveled to a part of the world, Colleen, which can only be described as awesome, in the truest sense of the word.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice over): A vast ocean of ice. An expanse of untouched wilderness. This is Spitsbergen, an island located within the Arctic Circle. Quite literally, the top of the world.
The Arctic is one of the largest unspoiled regions on Earth. But, it's a region that's rapidly changing.
(on camera): The impact of climate change is already visible here in the Arctic. Ice caps or glaciers like these are shrinking as parts of the polar region warm twice as fast as the global average.
(voice over): NASA scientists say in just one year, between 2004 and 2005, the Arctic ice that survives summer shrunk by 14 percent -- three-quarters of a million square kilometers, more than a quarter of a million square miles, an area the size of the state of Texas. One study published in the journal "Geophysical Research Letters" even suggests that the Arctic could be free of all summer ice as early as 2040, an event that could have major consequences.
DAVID CARLSON, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR: We think of the bears and the seals, but there's a whole ecosystem that's part of that -- the fish. And so, when that ice changes, when it's not there in the summer, that whole ecosystem comes apart. We don't know whether organisms like bears can adjust in four or five generations. It's a very short time. But the fisheries, the big animals, the hunters that depend on those big animals, that whole system seems to come apart.
ANDERSON: Well, on my recent trip there, we didn't get to see polar bears. But in the future, with sea ice melting earlier and forming later, the sights of one of these photogenic beasts may become even rarer as their food resources dwindle. And if global temperatures keep on rising, there's every chance that this Arctic archipelago could also change from one of the most powerfully picturesque locations I've ever visited to just another barren island and just another ocean.
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ANDERSON: And Colleen, no one again will ever accuse me of being a victim of fashion in that kit. I was essential, though.
I had something like three or four layers of woolen clothes. But below that, a Versace suit, if you like.
And it's the cold which is so difficult for you when you are in a region like that. The conditions are dangerous. The cold is one of the biggest risks that you face.
I want to show you just a little of what we did face, the conditions and the sort of terrain that we faced when we were filming up there in that Arctic archipelago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice over): It's the second day of my Arctic survival course, and I'm learning some basics.
(on camera): So, why is this so important?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to see how thick the ice is. So, it should be 15 centimeters when you go on snowmobiles. But it can be as low as five if you're skiing.
ANDERSON: So which is that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 15 exactly.
ANDERSON: Oh, that's good. That's enough to...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That will support us.
ANDERSON: Go on the bikes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And Colleen, it's from this island that many of the polar explorers and researchers of climate change begin their journeys, to the North Pole, which is about 1,000 kilometers from there. And to a man and woman, each will say that they need action, and that we need action now if we are to prevent that ice disappearing at some point, and what we see as ice now becoming just rivers and oceans -- Colleen.
MCEDWARDS: OK. Becky, thanks a lot. And we forgive you for that suit. I would want that much on, if not more.
Thanks, Becky. That was great -- Jim.
CLANCY: We're talking today about the Earth, the environment, and the things that people do every day that can help or hurt. One of the things that we all do is shop. And there's nowhere on earth where we shop more than Wal-Mart.
It is the largest retail chain on the planet. And now, even it says it is going to be a lot more earth friendly.
How? Jonathan Mann gives us some "Insight".
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Before we go any further, let's state the obvious.
Wal-Mart is very, very big. So, what happens when a Goliath like that goes green? Well, it has an impact on nearly 4,000 stores worldwide which sell $300 billion worth of products, manufactured and transported from 60,000 suppliers in 70 different countries worldwide. A global supply chain that leads to 180 million consumers a week.
So, when Wal-Mart talks green, is it really talking about something that big? We went to find out.
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MANN (voice over): Just walk into a Wal-Mart, and you might not notice its new environmental campaign. A lot of the packaging, for example, virtually screams plastic and pollution.
(on camera): This is all the kind of stuff that environmentalists go crazy about.
MICHAEL MILLS, WAL-MART: Absolutely.
MANN (voice over): It turns out, the containers are made of corn.
(on camera): Is that what this is?
MILLS: That's what this is.
MANN: This is made out of corn?
MILLS: Correct. Water and corn.
MANN (voice over): In fact, our guide pointed to invasions from the top of the store to the bottom.
MILLS: We use daylight to reduce our energy costs, and reduce the energy that we use at our stores. Right now, as you look across the store, the lights are completely out.
MANN: Look around at the racks. Clothing made from cotton grown without pesticides.
MILLS: We became last year the largest buyer of organic cotton in the United States.
MANN: Look down. Concrete floors instead of Formica.
MILLS: It will save us money on cleaning supplies, and it's better for the environment, because we're not dump those cleaning supplies into the water stream.
MANN: It may be a real change, but it's still subtle. So subtle, the shoppers we talked to haven't really noticed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they had made more of an organic aisle here, it would be nice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's great. I think it's great. Organic is the way we need to go right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wants it? I mean, myself, I don't. I just eat regular stuff.
MANN (on camera): Wal-Mart is pushing five particular products as trendsetters. These, compact fluorescent light bulbs; organic milk; laundry detergent that is concentrated to save on packaging; paper towels that have more towel on every roll to save on that little cardboard insert; and organic baby food. But if you take a closer look at products number one and number two, you can get a sense of the way things are working.
(voice over): Most Americans use old style incandescent bulbs, but could save an enormous amount of energy with fluorescents. Wal- Mart launched a campaign to sell 100 million fluorescents a year, and says it's on track. So, call the bulbs a success story.
Here's the story on the organic milk. Wal-Mart sells more of it than anyone in the country. But an environmental group called Cornucopia complained to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the dairies making the milk don't meet government standards.
The dairies told us they are proud of their milk and it meets all standards. The government told us it's investigating.
JOEL MAKOVER, GREENBIZ.COM: One of the great tensions between big companies and environmental advocates is the simple question, how good is good enough? No company is ever going to be perfect. Even smaller companies, some of the best-known brands that are known to be organic and socially responsible, still have issues that they are dealing with. MANN: Is Wal-Mart going to change the world? Probably not. But it could make a difference big enough to register.
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MANN: The reason is, once again, the multiplier effect. Little things multiplied make a big difference. If Wal-Mart can sell, for example, just a single one of those new style light bulbs to each of its customers, just one light bulb, the energy savings could power a major city for a year.
CLANCY: That does put it in perspective. And it's big.
MANN: It is big. And it's amazing.
CLANCY: You know, and as we look at it as consumers, all right, you go to the store, but how much do we have to pay extra in order to do that? How much does Wal-Mart pay extra?
MANN: Well, to use the light bulbs as an example, they are more expensive when you buy then, but they save so much energy, they'll save you money in the first year. And Wal-Mart says it is saving money.
For example, if it's using sunlight instead of electricity, well, sunlight is free. So the electricity is a cost Wal-Mart doesn't have to pay.
If it doesn't take packaging and doesn't have to throw that packaging away, it doesn't have to pay for the packaging. If it can make its trucks more efficient, it will save money, too.
Wal-Mart is very clear about this. It wants to do what it can for the environment, consistent with keeping its prices low and pleasing its shareholders. The people who own Wal-Mart didn't get sentimental on us all of a sudden. They just decided, they are going to do this if they can, if they can continue to make as much money as before, or even more money.
And the truth is, if they do it right, they probably can make even more money.
CLANCY: Jonathan Mann, as always, thanks for being with us with some real valuable "Insight".
MCEDWARDS: All right. Well, a warm greeting awaited Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as she visited the sight of the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Richard Quest is there and he joins us now with more on the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.
Hi, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Colleen, if there's one part in the United States, or one place here that would give the royal couple a very strong welcome, it is inevitably here in Virginia, because it was here, 400 years ago, the ships arrived.
They arrived on April the 26th. The settlement here at Jamestown began on May the 13th, 1607. And it was this that the queen was coming to see today.
She was looking at recreations of those ships, and particularly of a settlement fort, giving her an idea of what it was like back in those days. An idea of how tough life would have been.
But importantly and crucially, I think, today, what it was all about was extolling the links, the special relationship that exists between the United States and the United Kingdom. And it was left to the U.S. vice president, Dick Cheney, to draw a very strong connection between what happened 400 years ago and what the life is like today.
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RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The beliefs and ways of life observed here were vital in shaping the character of the nation we know today. And these traditions, liberty and law, private property, the spirit of enterprise and commerce among peoples, all came from the island nation that the colonists of Jamestown had called home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, the really interesting thing about that, Colleen, is, when those settlers came over here on ships like the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, their aim was to come here to find gold, silver, precious metals. They were also looking for a route through Asia.
They thought -- they had no idea, perhaps, that North America, the continent, was so large. And they thought that from Chesapeake Bay, up the James River, they would find a route across to the Pacific.
They never did, of course. It doesn't exist. They never found the gold, they never found the silver.
What they brought with him, instead, Colleen -- and this is what has been emphasized again and again -- is the rule of law, the English common law. And that, I think, is being celebrated as much with the queen's visit as just about anything else -- Colleen.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Richard Quest for us.
Thanks a lot, Richard.
CLANCY: Richard is getting to travel with the queen. He looks like he's having a great time, steeped in history.
MCEDWARDS: Yes. He said it's pretty subdued there, as these things often are. But the people he's talking to say they are just thrilled to see her. I mean, just thrilled.
CLANCY: Absolutely.
MCEDWARDS: There you go.
CLANCY: We've got to take a short break. We're going to turn a couple of pages coming up here.
A sickening crime.
MCEDWARDS: That's right. We're talking about the fight to bring one U.S. fugitive home from Hong Kong, and home to face justice.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And in France, it's good-bye Jacques Chirac, hello a new leader. The French get ready to elect a new president.
CLANCY: And walking a very fine line. A Chinese daredevil breaks a world record.
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GORANI: Welcome, live to Paris, in France.
It's the end of an era in this country. In just two days, the French are going to choose their next president. And it's a new chapter in French politics, and for the world, accustomed to seeing France led by an older generation of politicians. And it seems that in the race for the top spot, there is one clear front-runner.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ooh la-la. Look who's running for president of France -- Segolene Royal versus Nicolas Sarkozy. Not that we're obsessed with their look or anything.
MCEDWARDS: Sarkozy and Royal are ridiculously good-looking, aren't they?
MOOS: America is having its first decision '08 debates, while France just had "le debat 2007." The set was meant to resemble a boxing ring. And at one point socialist Segolene Royal came out swinging against her right-wing opponent.
SEGOLENE ROYAL, SOCIALIST PARTY CANDIDATE FOR FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): And I am very angry. No, I'm not going to calm down.
NICOLAS SARKOZY, UMP CANDIDATE FOR FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Please do not point your finger at me.
MOOS: The finger-pointing was over schooling for the handicapped.
SARKOZY (through translator): What is quite clear is that you lose your temper extremely easily, Madame. ROYAL (through translator): I'm not losing my cool.
SARKOZY (through translator): I would never have dared speak of you in this way.
ROYAL (through translator): Don't be condescending.
MOOS: America's female presidential candidate hasn't had a chance to get mad during a debate.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Barack said is right.
MOOS (on camera): Right, but in the past Senator Clinton has had the occasional tense debate moments. Take the time her Senate opponent physically tried to get her to sign a campaign financing pledge.
Ooh, I'm sorry.
RICK LAZIO, 2000 SENATE CANDIDATE: Right here. Here it is. Let's sign it.
CLINTON: I admire that. That was a wonderful performance, and you did it very well.
LAZIO: Why Don't you sign it? I'm not asking you to admire it. I'm asking you to sign it right here. Sign it right now.
CLINTON: Well, we'll shake -- we'll shake on this, Rick.
LAZIO: No, no. I want your signature.
MOOS: He didn't get it.
Senator Clinton famously favors pantsuits. Her French counterparts favors dresses. Both have been caught by paparazzi in their swimsuits.
With the French election this coming Sunday, Royal was trailing Sarkozy, but not by much.
ROYAL (through translator): I won't calm down.
SARKOZY (through translator): In order to be president of the Republic...
ROYAL (through translator): ... not when there's injustice. Some forms of anger are perfectly healthy because they reflect people's suffering.
MOOS: Pity the suffering interpreters. When the two-and-a-half- hour marathon debate was over, you could hear congratulatory kisses as the commercials and the interpreters giggled
And during a weed killer commercial, who better to weed out the winner than those who played their parts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think yours did better than mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure. I thought yours did better. I thought he was very technical.
MOOS: Whatever you do, don't call the female candidate "hot".
ROYAL (through translator): I'm not losing my cool. I haven't lost my cool. I'm not losing my cool. I'm disgusted and I'm revolted.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. You just got a taste there of the French debate that happened on Wednesday night.
More than 20 million viewers tuned in. In fact, we heard that that is as many viewers as the final of the World Cup in France.
So, French voters, very much concerned about this election now. In the latest poll, Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate, is leading Segolene Royal 54 percent to 46 percent.
Let's discuss in more detail this French election, and what it might mean also for Franco-U.S. relations.
I'm joined by Nicholas Dungan. He's the president of the French- American Foundation.
Nicholas, thanks for being with us.
NICHOLAS DUNGAN, PRESIDENT, FRENCH-AMERICAN FOUNDATION: Thank you.
GORANI: All right. So we saw and some of our viewers around the world and in the U.S. saw that debate, portions of it, at least.
Now, does the U.S. Bush administration really favor Nicolas Sarkozy, who's the liberal, who's the reformist here?
DUNGAN: I don't think that the U.S. government would favor anybody, except the person who the French elect. The fact is, though, that Sarkozy, who came to Washington, gave a speech, indeed, in front of the French-American Foundation, is probably a better-known candidate. But I think they will obviously work with whomever the French elect in a democratic process.
GORANI: Well, Nicholas, come on. I mean, Nicolas Sarkozy visited the U.S., Segolene Royal was even snubbed by Hillary Clinton, we heard. I mean, she doesn't seem to have the same kind of success or popularity as Sarkozy does in America. Does she?
DUNGAN: She hasn't been to the U.S. yet, and she didn't come during this campaign. But I think when she comes, she will generate a lot of interest, win or lose.
GORANI: All right. Right.
Now, what about Franco-U.S. relations? What about Jacques Chirac, the old guard, the man who stood against America in the war against Iraq? What is going to happen once one of these two candidate wins? Will anything change?
DUNGAN: Yes. I think you are going to have a generational change.
The working relationship is already very strong across the board at the diplomatic level, military, political. And certainly, you know, the business relationship, economic is all there. It's a very close and dense relationship.
But the fact is that I think in terms of making policy together when new issues arise in the world, this generational change will mean that there will be the opportunity for new initiatives.
GORANI: All right. Now, let's look forward to France itself. You were schooled in France, you're a Francophile.
How is this new generation going to change things inside of this country?
DUNGAN: Well, the one thing that's absolutely true is that in this election, there are three million new voters, and a lot of them are young, and they are not just split along party lines. A lot of them have made their own choices about what kind of society they want.
And these two candidates do represent a choice between a sort of post-modernist society and a more traditional society. But I think the main thing is that Sarkozy's theme of "I want to put France back to work" has really hit home with a lot of people.
GORANI: All right.
Nicholas Dungan, the president of the French-American Foundation.
Thank you very much.
DUNGAN: Thank you very much.
GORANI: All right.
And just so our viewers are up to date, really, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can, of course, always check out our Web site -- CNN.com/france.
We'll have a lot more coverage on this crucial election for France throughout the weekend. And you see it there, the official results, 18:00 GMT on Sunday.
YOUR WORLD TODAY will return after this. Stay with us.
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COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe, including the United States.
This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
And here are some of the stories that we are following for you this hour.
The United Nations panel on climate change is offering some hope of taming global warming. But their latest report says action must happen now. The panel says if world temperatures continue to rise, up to 30 percent of the world's species could become extinct by the year 2050.
Well, conservative French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy goes into Sunday's final round of voting with a lead of 69 percentage points in the public opinion polls. Forty-four million registered voters will choose between him and Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. She has become pretty aggressive in these final days, accusing Sarkozy of lying and trying to polarize the nation.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's return now to the impact of rising temperatures in the polar regions.
Earlier this hour, we showed you how ice caps are shrinking. But now we want to show people who live there are faring as the landscape shifts.
The Inuit are indigenous to Arctic and rely on hunting seals and other marine mammals for their livelihoods. But the melting ice is making it much more difficult to track the animals down.
Let's bring in Malin Jennings, a fellow with the Conservation Science Institute.
She's spent a great deal of time with the Inuit and she joins us now from Washington.
MALIN JENNINGS, CONSERVATION SCIENCE INSTITUTE: Hi, Jim.
CLANCY: People are worried about the species, about the polar bears, about the seals.
They need to worry about the people a little bit, too, don't they?
JENNINGS: Yes, it's interesting that in many of the crises, the attention has been on marine mammals and on habitats, which is very appropriate, but not much recognition has been given to the Inuit and to the people involved.
Now, this is not a large population. Worldwide, it's only about 150,000 people. And the area that I have been studying, which is northwest Greenland, there are only 1,000 people in an area the size of Germany.
CLANCY: Well, and that is an area, I believe that is the community that is northernmost on our entire planet.
JENNINGS: The -- the two communities that I've been working in are Canak (ph) and Serapalok (ph). And Serapalok is the northernmost full-time inhabited community on Earth. There are 70 people that live there. All of the men are free -- are full-time hunters. And you see a picture of me there on the sea ice. I wear Inuit clothing when I'm up there because it's actually much warmer than any Western clothing we've found.
CLANCY: I mean fabulous pictures that tell a story about these people.
But how is their way of life being forced to change?
JENNINGS: Well, the first thing is that the ice is melting later -- forming later and melting sooner than it used to. And they've lost about six weeks of the year of hunting.
Now, imagine if you were a low income family living on minimum wage and somebody said to you, we're going to take six of your income earning weeks a year away from you and we're going to disallow you from using public transportation and we're also going to make it harder for you to reach other kinds of food.
That's the situation that these people face. They are sort of being cut off at every pass. Without ice, they cannot hunt. They are isolated from their communities because they have -- they need ice to travel by dog sled to -- to other communities. So they're very isolated. And it means that in order for the men to continue to be full-time hunters, their wives now have to have paying jobs.
And as you can imagine, there aren't a whole lot of paying jobs that close to the North Pole.
CLANCY: Is this a people, the Inuit people, they may only number 150,000, but are they as endangered by global warming -- just like everyone else?
JENNINGS: There are two kinds of danger that they're in. First of all, there are physical dangers from toxins that they eat. Because they eat food that is at the top of the food chain, where the toxins are concentrated, they've found that the level of -- of toxic chemicals in the breast milk of some Canadian Inuit mothers is 10 to 100 times higher than it should be.
But the other kind of danger is to their culture. And that's what I've been talking to them about. What they're seeing is that the women are losing their culture first, because in order for a man to continue to hunt -- and, by the way, in the -- in the Greenland social hierarchy, hunters are the very highest, most prestigious position. But for them to continue hunting full-time, their wives have to take jobs. That means that the wives are spending less time on traditional skills like skin sewing, like flensing (ph), like accompanying their husbands on polar bear hunts.
So theirs is the first to go.
But I think within a few years, what you're going to find is that no one will be able to live full-time as a hunter.
CLANCY: That will be a sad time.
Malin Jennings, I want to thank you very much for sharing your knowledge...
JENNINGS: Thanks.
Thank you.
CLANCY: ... of the Inuit people and giving us some really interesting facts about them, their way of life and how our changing climate is affecting them.
JENNINGS: Thank you.
CLANCY: Colleen -- back to you.
MCEDWARDS: All right, Jim, thanks very much.
Well, the conference on Iraq's security has wrapped up in Egypt with a pledge of support for Baghdad's fledgling government. However, delegates from neighboring states say Iraq's Shiite-dominated administration has got to do more to include Sunnis in the political process.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Iranian diplomats did have a brief talk in a hallway during the conference. Their lower level meeting was significant, though, since the two countries certainly don't have any diplomatic relations.
And an interesting side note. Iran's foreign minister caused a bit of a diplomatic sensation when he refused to attend a dinner on the last night of the conference. Washington says Manouchehr Motakki refused to be seated across from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But the Iraqi government maintains that Motakki took offense to a scantily clad musician who was hired to entertain the delegates.
Well, the carbon footprint -- it is one of the last catch phrases in the climate change debate. And it's causing at least one mayor to take a bold step toward conservation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: By 2030, we will shrink our city's carbon footprint by 30 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCEDWARDS: But will that be enough to make a big difference in the Big Apple?
And coming up later...
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MCEDWARDS: A remake of the musical "West Side Story" -- way, way off Broadway. A look at "West Bank Story," when we come back.
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CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back.
This is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
MCEDWARDS: We are seen live in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe.
CLANCY: Now, if you watched the Oscars this year, you may have noticed that the Academy honored a short film about the Middle East.
MCEDWARDS: Yes. And what you may not know is that despite it being a musical comedy, this movie was very controversial.
CLANCY: Peter Viles brings us the story behind "West Bank Story."
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PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's unlike anything you've ever seen from Hollywood -- a zany, absurd musical comedy about tensions in the West Bank.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
VILES (voice-over): In "West Bank Story," a twist on "West Side Story"...
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST SIDE STORY," COURTESY MGM HOME ENTERTAINMENT)
VILES: Jews dance with Arabs.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
VILES: A Palestinian girl falls in love with an Israeli soldier.
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VILES: And everyone wears a goofy hat. (VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
VILES: And the biggest conflict is between rival falafel stands.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your side of the street is encroaching on my side of the street.
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VILES: It's a comedy so taboo that many in Hollywood warned Ari Sandel not to make it.
ARI SANDEL, DIRECTOR, "WEST BANK STORY": When I first started to make the film, everyone said you can't make a comedy about the Middle East. You can't make a comedy about the conflict. You can't turn a tragedy into a comedy. Nobody wants to see it. You're going to upset every Jew and every Arab. You're going to kill your career before it starts.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Welcome to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
May I take your order?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: But Sandel was undaunted. A student filmmaker, he wanted to make a short film that would get him noticed and would make a point.
SANDEL: Really, what I wanted to do was make a movie that was going to be pro-peace, have a positive message, be even-handed in the way it dealt with the situation, so that Israelis would watch it and like the Arab characters and Arabs would watch it and find themselves liking the Israeli characters. And that was really the intention.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop right there!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just trying to give this humus package to somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hamas!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: With a shoestring budget, Sandel begged and borrowed to get the film made.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: The West Bank town in the film is really on a movie ranch 30 miles north of Los Angeles.
SANDEL: So this was the checkpoint and the idea was that was Israel, this was the West Bank and the checkpoint was going that way.
VILES: The son of an Israeli father, Sandel drew, in part, on his own studies and travels in the Middle East.
SANDEL: I've been to Ramallah. I've been to Bedouin camps in -- in the Sin -- in the Negev. And I've been all over Israel, as well. So, you know, I have experienced it as an outsider. I would never for a second say I know how it is over there from personal experience.
VILES: The cast is a collection of open-minded newcomers like A.J. Tannen...
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
A.J. TANNEN: But a crew of Jews from New York to Moscow...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: Who served in the Israeli military and plays the owner of the Israeli falafel stand.
A.J. TANNEN, "ARIEL" IN "WEST BANK STORY": Ari is a true visionary and has real courage to like think of something that's so taboo. And then we read the script before we went into audition and I loved it. I thought it was a hoot. I thought it was hilarious and completely original.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
NOUREEN DEWULF: Wood Kit (ph) is on the same...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: Noureen Dewulf, a Muslim Indian-American, who plays the Palestinian girl, says it was a rare chance to play an Arab in a comedy.
NOUREEN DEWULF, "FATIMA" IN "WEST BANK STORY": Here in Hollywood, the way that they portray Arabs, Muslims, everybody of that part of the world, even Indians, you know, is usually in a negative light. So it's really nice to have this -- this role of this -- these Arab people who are really funny. And we have kebab hats and we sing and we dance. And we're normal, you know? And we don't have this ulterior agenda.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
DEWULF: Do I look like a suicide bomber?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: On the festival circuit, the 21-minute movie was a big hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's OK, Ruvik.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: But then came the Dubai Festival and a skeptical Arab audience.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
VILES: When one viewer stood up and said he didn't like Sandel's movie, that it trivialized the situation, half of the audience applauded.
SANDEL: And I said look, this is not a historical explanation. It's not a political solution. It's not meant to be educational. This is a movie about hope, to portray a feeling of hope, and that is it. And as I explained why I made the movie, you could see people's attitudes start to change.
And these are all Arabs speaking on behalf of Palestinians, but they aren't Palestinians. They're Kuwaiti or Saudi or Iraqi or Lebanese.
And finally a Palestinian woman stood up in the back and said, "I'm from Ramallah. It's OK to laugh and I think this is hilarious."
And everyone looked at her. And there was silence. And it was the most amazing feeling of validation.
And then another guy stood up. He was like, "I'm from Gaza. I want to buy a copy for my family. Where do I get a copy?"
And from that point on, the whole attitude changed.
VILES: And then there was Oscar night. The film was nominated as best short. And this is what happened that night in the home of Ari Sandel's father.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM CELEBRATION)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM OSCARS, COURTESY ABC)
VILES: A Hollywood ending if ever there was one.
SANDEL: If it's going to change the world or do anything else, probably not. But if -- you know, if you can change a few minds -- I get letters and e-mails from people all over the world -- Israeli soldiers, professors from the University of Qatar, Palestinians who ask for the DVD and talk about how much the movie means to them, that there is somebody making something that's hopeful. Because there's just this sea of negativity out there.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What if it doesn't work out between them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: A sea of negativity that could not drown this hopeful voice.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "WEST BANK STORY")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What place is that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: Peter Viles for "INSIDE THE MIDDLE EAST" in Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
MCEDWARDS: Well, great story there of how Sandel won over his critics and how, you know, if you -- if you listen to the people who say it can't be done, it'll never get done, right?
He didn't listen and look what he did. It's awesome.
CLANCY: A couple of things that, you know, are really nice there. The kebab hats, I thought, were special. And it was good to see that here was a guy that won an Academy Award and you saw his home movies go out looking just like ours.
MCEDWARDS: Yes.
And he says, you know, it's a message of hope and he believes that the situation in the Middle East really can be resolved. So there you go.
By the way, join Hala Gorani this weekend if you want to see the complete version of "INSIDE THE MIDDLE EAST" right here on CNN.
CLANCY: That's right.
She's going to be busy this weekend. She's going to be in Paris for the elections and with -- there with "INSIDE THE MIDDLE EAST."
Well, a Chinese daredevil -- look at this -- breaking a world record by walking a fine line.
MCEDWARDS: Ooh, look at this. He's stepping across South Korea's Han River on a tightrope. This rope only 30 millimeters thick. That's thin.
CLANCY: Yes. It looks thin, very thin. The one kilometer -- that's right -- one kilometer walk, took only 11 minutes and 22 seconds. I'd have been hurrying, too. It earned him a spot in the "Guinness Book of World Records." Well, I'm glad that he wanted that award, because it doesn't seem like much to get for, you know, walking a kilometer like that.
MCEDWARDS: He wanted it badly, obviously.
OK.
CLANCY: How our lifestyle can have an impact on our environment.
MCEDWARDS: Still ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do I know my carbon footprint?
No.
RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Do you know what it is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCEDWARDS: Well, if you don't know your carbon footprint, stay tuned. We will show you how you can find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCEDWARDS: Well, we're hearing a lot about it these days, and with all this talk about global warming, we often hear the phrase "carbon footprint."
CLANCY: OK. I'm going to give you the official definition. It refers to how much pollution your lifestyle leaves behind in the environment.
MCEDWARDS: Yes. It's got nothing to do with your shoe size.
How do you measure your carbon footprint, then?
CLANCY: I really don't know, but Richard Roth spoke to the man who's committed to making his footprint practically invisible.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York City has been described as an asphalt jungle. In these crowds, people try not to step on each other's toes.
But what happens if you don't know your carbon footprint?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do I know my carbon footprint? No.
ROTH (on camera): Do you know what it is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
ROTH (voice-over): The carbon footprint concept has been all the buzz. But many New Yorkers are in the dark, though probably not due to global warming.
(on camera): Do you know what your carbon footprint is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What size?
(LAUGHTER)
ROTH: Do you know what it is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually don't.
ROTH (voice-over): They could have learned by listening to their mayor unveil his Earth Day Greener Greater New York Plan, which includes the footprint.
BLOOMBERG: By 2030, we will shrink our city's carbon footprint by 30 percent.
ROTH: A carbon footprint measures how much polluting gases your lifestyle produces.
(on camera): You have to know what your carbon footprint is.
How to figure it out?
Well, it starts, as with everything in life, in the home.
How much energy are you using, by you or other people in the home?
Appliances -- what kind of energy are you using -- oil, gas electricity?
Transportation a very important area. The car -- how much mileage are you getting? Also, are you traveling by subway, airplane or the bus?
Don't know what your carbon footprint is?
Go to the Web and type carbon footprint.
(voice-over): You might say Bill Ohl has big-footed his whole apartment into a near carbon-free zone.
BILL OHL, TEACHER: Everything else was drawing energy and now it's not. ROTH: To cut power, the public school teacher put everything from the TV to the cell phone charger on power strips, turning them on only when needed.
OHL: I got this bag for like $1.50.
ROTH: There's a bag in the toilet to cut water flow and all the light bulbs were changed to compact fluorescents, slashing utility rates.
OHL: If just 1 percent of New Yorkers do some of the things that I've done in my apartment, that'll make a huge difference, you know?
ROTH: And to get rid of the energy usage he can't avoid in his own apartment, Ohl buys what are known as carbon offsets from this man's company. Native Energy and other firms build farms that turn cow manure into carbon-free electricity and windmills that offset the power emitting greenhouse gases in Manhattan.
BRIAN ALLENBY, NATIVE ENERGY COMPANY: Our mantra is really reduce as much as you can and then offset what you can't.
ROTH: A low carbon footprint was a requirement for Ohl's new roommate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't say you have to do this or I'm going to hurt you. He just said here's a good idea, let's do it.
OK.
ROTH: And in a city known for walking, carbon foot printing may catch on.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CLANCY: Good idea, Richard.
MCEDWARDS: Yes. Love it.
CLANCY: Well, many of you have been writing to us about what you're doing to reduce your carbon footprint in the last couple of days.
MCEDWARDS: We have some great ideas here.
Francis from the United States says: "I've been using electric cars and solar energy for 30 years." Way ahead of the curve here. "But no gas station will let me plug it in. I blame corporate conspiracy," she says.
CLANCY: Ryan from Taiwan wrote in with this: "No matter how many citizens are trying their best to reduce pollution, government enforcement is the most powerful way to stop CO2 emissions."
MCEDWARDS: Good point there.
Keep your e-mails coming.
We love hearing from you. You can reach us at yourviews@cnn.com.
CLANCY: That has to be our program for today.
This has been YOUR WORLD TODAY.
I'm Jim Clancy.
MCEDWARDS: I'm Colleen McEdwards.
Thanks for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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