Thomas L. Friedman's case for green as a way to help the planet and its inhabitants.

You may know the name Thomas Freidman. He's a columnist for The New York Times. His 2005 book The Earth Is Flat examined how globalization and the Internet are putting developed countries and developing nations on a much more even competitive field.

Now he sees "environmental leadership" as a way for the United States to regain its international stature, to repair international relationships damaged because of disagreements over recent U.S. foreign policy and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. He makes that case, and follows its wider implications, in the cover story in this week's edition of the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

The magazine essay is just one aspect of Friedman's campaign to get people thinking about this. He's also made a documentary, Green Is The New Red, White and Blue. That's airing on the Discovery Channel in the U.S. on April 21st. There's nothing on the Canadian Discovery Channel's site about it. Maybe if enough people ask them to air it, they will. It's not clear from the U.S. Discovery Channel site whether any of the program will be available online.

It could always turn up on YouTube.