Discovery Communications, parent of the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the Learning Channel, has announced that they will be launching a new cable network dedicated to environmental living. The new channel will be carved from the rebranding of the Discovery Home channel.

This is an interesting idea that could capitalize on the popularity of green culture and contribute to a positive advancement of environmental education. Last year, “An Inconvenient Truth” became the 3rd highest grossing documentary of all time and is approaching $50 million dollars in box office. In fact 4 of the top ten documentaries are nature or health themed. That bodes well for the viability of this genre of programming. Discovery is accepting responsibility for a healthy planet with this venture, and they are holding themselves up as a model by announcing an even broader effort, dubbed PlanetGreen, to promote an environmental lifestyle. They even plan to make the company’s headquarters carbon neutral.

That’s more than our current political establishment is doing. At a time when our President is openly hostile to environmental concerns, there is a great need to inspire the American people to live harmoniously with the Earth. Americans are curiously schizophrenic when it comes to the environment. While every poll shows an overwhelming support for green policy, they still tool around the suburbs in SUVs. Clearly more education to reinforce their innate tendencies is required. David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications, appears to recognize both the morality and the opportunity of eco-awareness.

“To be able to rebrand an existing channel and launch with over 50 million homes in 2008 is a big statement to where the world is today,” Mr. Zaslav said in an interview. “Five years ago, people would have said ‘who are those lefties talking about green?’ “

Those lefties are the majority of mainstream citizens, and they are ready for new media choices that represent their views. By rebranding an existing channel, Discovery will debut with the 50 million homes already subscribed to the Discovery Home network. That’s a considerable launching pad for the new effort that has yet to be named. If they asked me, I would say to keep the current name, “Home,” with an arrow pointing to a picture of the Earth, which is already incorporated into their logo. This is, after all, our one and only home.