PBS takes on global energy with Web-driven 'Planet Forward'

— -- Creative solutions to solving the world's energy problems take center stage tonight at 8 ET/PT in the PBS special Planet Forward, the brainchild of veteran TV newsman Frank Sesno.

Tonight's show showcases citizen-produced videos recently uploaded to the project's website, PlanetForward.org, launched in March. Videos are from such varied sources as Girl Scouts in Rochester, N.Y., explaining their use of solar energy in baking, to an animated segment by a Bangladeshi college student concerned about the potential of devastating sea-level rise in his home country.

Creator, host and managing editor Sesno says the show is secondary to the website. "This is a website with a TV show, not a TV show with a website."

The project is a new type of citizen conversation, he says, that flows from the Web to television and back again. "It's got a great sweep and a mix of voices, which is what the Web is all about."

A creation of George Washington University's Public Affairs Project, Planet Forward invites creative discussion on energy topics that range from nuclear power to wind turbines, biodiesel to building technology and solar energy to sustainability.

"Energy and climate are the issues of our times," Sesno says. "It engages young people as few issues do, because they understand it's their future."

Taped two weeks ago at the university in Washington, D.C., the show features a panel discussion among energy and climate experts, who comment on and debate the content of the videos.

The program ends on a hopeful note from panelist Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change, who says: "We can do this. … We can change the energy future of the United States and thereby change the future of the world."