1
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:10,540
Thank you very much.

2
00:00:10,540 --> 00:00:13,160
Actually I’ve lived
in Topanga for 35 years

3
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,519
and my job is television director.

4
00:00:16,519 --> 00:00:19,399
Mostly junk television shows

5
00:00:19,399 --> 00:00:21,600
like Entertainment Tonight,
things like that.

6
00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,600
My hobby has always been
the environmental movement,

7
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,120
which 35 years ago I was very lucky

8
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,000
to bump into Bob Hunter
and Paul Watson,

9
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,579
two of the most famous
people in the movement.

10
00:00:33,579 --> 00:00:36,799
And being in the
television business,

11
00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:38,920
there are like
stories made to happen.

12
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,810
Just like a train wreck
waiting to happen.

13
00:00:42,810 --> 00:00:44,960
I hooked up with them
years ago and we tried,

14
00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,399
at that time -this is 35 years ago,

15
00:00:47,399 --> 00:00:49,880
it was in Vancouver, British Columbia –

16
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,000
we took a billboard out,
which had one word on it:

17
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,520
Ecology, look it up!

18
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,600
No one knew what the word meant.

19
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,039
And so now, 30 / 35 years later

20
00:01:01,039 --> 00:01:03,759
I can say, we have won the revolution.

21
00:01:03,759 --> 00:01:06,359
At least people know
what the word means,

22
00:01:06,359 --> 00:01:09,359
and BP Oil wants to be green.

23
00:01:09,359 --> 00:01:11,599
So the kids that are coming along next

24
00:01:11,599 --> 00:01:13,959
-I’m kind of old,
and semi over the hill –

25
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:15,760
The kids that are coming along next

26
00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,439
will have to learn
how to govern it,

27
00:01:17,439 --> 00:01:20,400
because we have won the revolution,

28
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,680
as environmental groups,

29
00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,680
we want to be good,
we want to have less population

30
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,159
-at least I do-

31
00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:29,359
we want to teach our kids
to do the right things,

32
00:01:29,359 --> 00:01:31,079
we want to do all those things.

33
00:01:31,079 --> 00:01:33,719
And everyone has to do their part,

34
00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:39,120
in the Tapestry of Life, which was
on the brochure this morning.

35
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,879
I guess I’m the person
who just can’t wait around for that

36
00:01:41,879 --> 00:01:44,840
and I have to get out there
and stop it right now.

37
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,640
I consider myself a conservationist,

38
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,640
and what I do in the
media business is,

39
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,200
I take the problem to the world.

40
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,439
We consider ourselves
an acupuncture needle.

41
00:01:56,439 --> 00:01:58,120
We can stick the problem,

42
00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,239
make a big stink,

43
00:01:59,239 --> 00:02:01,640
which we do, if you know what we do,

44
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,680
and all over the world
we’ll hear about it,

45
00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,519
and then it’s time for everyone else,

46
00:02:05,519 --> 00:02:08,080
our own selves to get in there and fix it.

47
00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,560
And both as a small group,
which I ran for years,

48
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,719
and as an individual,
that is all we can do.

49
00:02:14,719 --> 00:02:18,159
And recently
– I will get to it in a minute –

50
00:02:18,159 --> 00:02:19,719
but Margaret Mead told me one time,

51
00:02:19,719 --> 00:02:21,800
and she obviously
– it’s written out all the time,

52
00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:22,879
and you hear about it-

53
00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:27,000
that individuals change the world,
not groups, not governments.

54
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,039
Nobody.
It’s individuals.

55
00:02:29,039 --> 00:02:30,759
And when people ask me,

56
00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,240
"What can I do? It seems
like such a big deal!"

57
00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,240
Well, it isn’t such a big deal.

58
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,280
Everyone can do something positive.

59
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,719
It’s real easy to sit around
in our couches

60
00:02:41,719 --> 00:02:43,599
and football games and bitch about,

61
00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:47,080
you know, the Topanga Creek
being dirty, or whatever,

62
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,439
and not even care
where our separate tank goes.

63
00:02:50,439 --> 00:02:53,759
So that’s a very easy
subject to deal with,

64
00:02:53,759 --> 00:02:56,120
And when people tell you ‘No’,

65
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,119
if you find something you want
to do, I tell kids especially,

66
00:02:59,119 --> 00:03:02,680
if that’s something – as the lady before
me was talking about their passion –

67
00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,360
if that’s what their
passion’s about: do it!

68
00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,199
And you know, everybody in your life

69
00:03:07,199 --> 00:03:09,599
is going to tell you why you can’t do it.

70
00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:11,949
Your parents are going to tell you
you're crazy,

71
00:03:11,949 --> 00:03:14,039
your friends are going to say, 
Why bother?

72
00:03:14,039 --> 00:03:16,440
Everybody is going to tell you
why you can’t do it.

73
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:17,360
And you know what?

74
00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,759
You’ll change the world if you do do it.

75
00:03:19,759 --> 00:03:22,479
And the minute you stand up
to all these naysayers,

76
00:03:22,479 --> 00:03:25,949
which there'll be, because they've
never really done anything themselves,

77
00:03:25,949 --> 00:03:28,319
and they’re probably
more afraid of failure,

78
00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:31,000
or success for that matter, than you are.

79
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,159
But as a kid, if you see a problem,

80
00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:36,199
you just tell yourself,
you can do it.

81
00:03:36,199 --> 00:03:40,560
And in my case, I came from
a little town, Eastham, Massachusetts

82
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,319
I came out to Hollywood,
I was a professional skier,

83
00:03:43,319 --> 00:03:45,000
I got into the television business,

84
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,639
and I bumped into
Paul Watson and Bob Hunter.

85
00:03:48,639 --> 00:03:52,479
Thirty years later,
BP Oil wants to be green.

86
00:03:52,479 --> 00:03:54,599
Now, I don’t take full credit for it,

87
00:03:54,599 --> 00:03:58,159
but I do know the people
who can take full credit for it.

88
00:03:58,159 --> 00:04:01,080
And those are the people
who went out in front,

89
00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,520
and weren’t afraid
of what was going to happen.

90
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,400
I hear all the time – I have
coffee at Mimosa Coffee Shop –

91
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,319
and I hear all the time people say,

92
00:04:10,319 --> 00:04:12,840
"Gee, Peter just got back from Antarctica!

93
00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,240
I wish I could do that!"

94
00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,137
Well, six weeks before I left

95
00:04:17,137 --> 00:04:19,640
they were sitting there
in the coffee shop telling me,

96
00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,200
Gee, I wish I could go
to Antarctica, I don’t have time.

97
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,350
I come back six weeks later,
and they tell me,

98
00:04:24,350 --> 00:04:26,120
"What did you do? Nothing".

99
00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,960
As a matter of fact, the damn coffee
shop is about the same,

100
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,319
and probably still has
the same dirty cups in the trash.

101
00:04:32,319 --> 00:04:34,360
But I went
and took six weeks of my time,

102
00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,639
to do something that I believed in.

103
00:04:36,639 --> 00:04:39,240
For whatever reason:
I did it for myself,

104
00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,720
I did it for the whales, I can do it
for whatever number of reasons,

105
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,839
but the very fact is,
that I did it.

106
00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:48,000
And it’s very funny that after 35 years

107
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,920
I ended up in that stupid
Whale Wars television show,

108
00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,099
and now, all of a sudden, I’m invited
to places like this to speak.

109
00:04:54,099 --> 00:04:55,600
(Laughter)

110
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,279
You know, I could be the
greatest scientist to the world,

111
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:00,240
but, hell, I wasn’t
on tv last night,

112
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,759
but I was on television
and I play a scientist on tv,

113
00:05:03,759 --> 00:05:05,920
and I’ll tell you: Don’t kill whales.

114
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,399
(Laughter)

115
00:05:09,399 --> 00:05:12,399
But it’s tv, so you don’t have
to get a lot of points across,

116
00:05:12,420 --> 00:05:15,560
you just have to kind of
get the feeling, and I’m good at that.

117
00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,800
Because I absolutely believe
in what I’m preaching,

118
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,120
and so I’ll make up
the facts all day long.

119
00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,350
You know, let the other show
come up with the stuff that’s right.

120
00:05:25,350 --> 00:05:28,360
Just these three weekends ago
I was supposed to talk here,

121
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,429
I forgot what the subject was going to be,

122
00:05:30,429 --> 00:05:31,780
I was asked, and I said,

123
00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:34,430
I’m doing something right
now that could be really cool.

124
00:05:34,430 --> 00:05:36,509
Now, I don’t know if you people
are involved

125
00:05:36,509 --> 00:05:38,979
in the environmental movement,
or what the thing is,

126
00:05:38,979 --> 00:05:40,959
- I kind of, for whatever reason, am -

127
00:05:40,959 --> 00:05:45,319
and Paul Watson, who’s on the lam
for Sea Shepherd now, for offenses,

128
00:05:45,319 --> 00:05:48,040
asked me if I could put
Taiji, Japan, The Cove,

129
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,199
where they kill the dolphins cove,

130
00:05:50,199 --> 00:05:52,439
if I could stream it live to the Internet.

131
00:05:52,439 --> 00:05:55,610
Because for years they’ve only done
motion pictures on the thing,

132
00:05:55,610 --> 00:05:58,570
it’s been on tv, you know -
[but] it hasn’t saved one dolphin.

133
00:05:58,570 --> 00:06:00,749
But boy, they spend a ton
of money over there.

134
00:06:00,749 --> 00:06:03,360
So we thought that maybe
we would try to do that.

135
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,319
So I said, Sure!

136
00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:08,360
I saw a commercial where someone
is there with their cell phone,

137
00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,800
and they took a picture
of a rock and roll star,

138
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,389
and thre it was on a bill board!

139
00:06:12,389 --> 00:06:16,680
It was on tv, I’ve got
to be able to do that!

140
00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,759
And you know, the funny thing is,

141
00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:21,480
two weeks later, I did.

142
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,800
And we only told five people we tried it,

143
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,120
and the Japanese arrested 13 foreigners

144
00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,120
in town and took their cell phones away.

145
00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,199
The next time, when we got
the cell phones back to the kids,

146
00:06:32,199 --> 00:06:34,120
and we actually told a few people

147
00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,160
that we were going to run this live,

148
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,879
they arrested another 13 or 14,

149
00:06:38,879 --> 00:06:41,639
and took their cell phones away
and broke them.

150
00:06:41,639 --> 00:06:45,019
And then they spent a week
cyber-attacking me, because...

151
00:06:45,019 --> 00:06:47,480
Just to this point,

152
00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,279
no one had even seen it yet. Ok?

153
00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:50,879
Ten people, maybe.

154
00:06:50,879 --> 00:06:54,600
Now there is 10,000 people
a day tuning in,

155
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,279
to this thing called Easy Earth,

156
00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,000
with the letters EasyEarth.tv ,

157
00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,800
to watch Taiji live,

158
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,759
and the Japanese
are just beside themselves.

159
00:07:02,759 --> 00:07:04,560
And no one can understand why.

160
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,879
Well, we live in Los Angeles
where people watch car chases,

161
00:07:07,879 --> 00:07:11,360
for four hours a day.
Waiting for the car wreck.

162
00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:13,340
What’s better [than] watching the Japanese

163
00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:15,040
to see what’ll happen to these poor,

164
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:16,920
lovely vegan women when they come in

165
00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,879
and kill a dolphin
in front of one of them? Ah!

166
00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:22,199
My dad was in WW II,
he would have loved

167
00:07:22,199 --> 00:07:24,319
to have a platoon
of those women with him

168
00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:26,000
because they just turn vicious.

169
00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:27,759
And so the people are watching it.

170
00:07:27,759 --> 00:07:29,079
But the difference is,

171
00:07:29,079 --> 00:07:32,279
they are changing their mind.

172
00:07:32,279 --> 00:07:35,515
They don’t like to kill
dolphins on live tv.

173
00:07:35,515 --> 00:07:37,261
(Laughter)

174
00:07:37,261 --> 00:07:40,399
They don’t have a problem
killing dolphins

175
00:07:40,399 --> 00:07:42,640
when you put it in a film,
for whatever reason,

176
00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,879
but for some reasons, they
do not like it happening now.

177
00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:49,439
And it got around.

178
00:07:49,439 --> 00:07:51,600
And we now, we are doing it every day.

179
00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,519
Still on my credit card, I’m thrilled.

180
00:07:54,519 --> 00:07:58,959
Because with band, the more
you sell the more it costs you.

181
00:07:58,959 --> 00:08:02,079
So now, what we figured we’d do
to really be a pain in the ass,

182
00:08:02,079 --> 00:08:06,480
[was] we are going to put
Antarctica, this winter, on live.

183
00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,260
So instead of Whale Wars
doing a fake TV show about it,

184
00:08:09,260 --> 00:08:10,639
a year later,

185
00:08:10,639 --> 00:08:13,279
you’re going to be able
to tune in Christmas Eve,

186
00:08:13,279 --> 00:08:16,240
if you’re Japanese, and watch
the brave thing country does,

187
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,999
killing whales in a whale sanctuary, 
on Christmas Eve.

188
00:08:20,999 --> 00:08:22,600
And what I’m going to do then,

189
00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,000
is put it up on a live video
screen in downtown Tokyo.

190
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,360
(Laughter)

191
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,759
And just wait for them
to take it down (Applause).

192
00:08:30,759 --> 00:08:33,440
But all I’m saying, I’m saying this

193
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:35,480
because I’ve got to get going here,

194
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,649
I see someone waving in the background,

195
00:08:37,649 --> 00:08:38,958
I must not talk too long.

196
00:08:38,958 --> 00:08:40,839
But all I’m saying, the bottom line is,

197
00:08:40,839 --> 00:08:42,360
anybody can do it.

198
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:43,840
I just happened to get lucky

199
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:45,759
because I am involved
in a film called:

200
00:08:45,759 --> 00:08:48,600
Confessions of an Eco Terrorist,

201
00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,440
so it is in my nature to do these things.

202
00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,960
But I had enough contacts,

203
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,000
when someone suggested: Why not?

204
00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,240
I didn’t say, because it’s impossible.

205
00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,159
Everybody else said it was impossible.

206
00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:04,720
It took me two weeks,
it was nearly impossible.

207
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,600
Now it’s kind of impossible
convincing my wife it was a good idea.

208
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,399
But that’s another story altogether.

209
00:09:11,399 --> 00:09:13,029
But the thing is, it’s working

210
00:09:13,029 --> 00:09:15,240
and it’s a different way of thinking.

211
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,879
And the kids out here
especially, or anybody,

212
00:09:17,879 --> 00:09:20,600
if they have an idea
on how to get after something,

213
00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,840
then I say: do it!
If it’s a real idea,

214
00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,240
talk about it with your friends.

215
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:26,679
If they all think you’re crazy,

216
00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:28,480
then you know it’s a good idea!

217
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,609
Find someone else
you can talk to about it,

218
00:09:31,609 --> 00:09:33,080
And get out there, and do it.

219
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,870
It will change the world.

220
00:09:34,870 --> 00:09:36,759
And not only will it change the world;

221
00:09:36,759 --> 00:09:38,769
all of a sudden, they’ll be invited here,

222
00:09:38,769 --> 00:09:40,480
to come talk in a place like this,

223
00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,279
where you can’t see anybody out there

224
00:09:42,279 --> 00:09:44,029
because the lights are in your eyes,

225
00:09:44,029 --> 00:09:45,300
but you all seem very nice

226
00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:47,440
and I think I’m at my time,

227
00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,240
and I want to thank you for coming in.

228
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,640
Get out there and do
something positive.

229
00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,140
Thank you!

230
00:09:54,140 --> 00:09:56,640
(Applause)