Lights off

Millions of American sports fans had their Sunday football interrupted by a heaping helping of environmental idiocy.

In case you missed it, NBC chose its “Football Night in America” broadcast to announce the launch of its “Green is Universal” campaign, a week-long propaganda blitz on the network and its cable and Internet siblings to raise awareness about “eco-friendly lifestyles” and how to save the world from global warming. More than 150 hours of programming and content will be built around the “green week” theme through Saturday.

In addition to tinting the network’s signature peacock logo green, NBC sent “Today” anchor and Democratic Party spokesman Matt Lauer to the Arctic Circle for a live report on the disastrous effects of climate change. Warmed by the heat of his high-definition cameras and satellite hookup, he teased a Monday morning interview with Doomsayer-in-Chief Al Gore.

But the stupidity of those stunts was dwarfed when the network literally turned out the lights on Bob Costas and his fellow hosts. NBC proudly announced that by forcing Mr. Costas and Co. to sit in the dark during the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles broadcast and the halftime and postgame shows, the network would save enough energy to power a typical home for a month. The program asked viewers to turn out their lights in a show of green solidarity.

Energy conservation is great. Given the growing cost of gasoline and electricity, conservation brings financial rewards for consumers.

But implying that wandering around in the dark is not only appropriate, but somehow hip, is just plain insipid.

In fact, having one of the country’s most-watched shows “go dark” offered ominous foreshadowing. For as the greens continue to fight the construction of proven, reliable power sources amid increasing demand for electricity, the likelihood of brownouts and energy shortages increases.

But don’t expect to hear that side of the story on NBC or any NBC Universal outlet this week — or ever. The company has thrown its lot in with Mr. Gore, who in his “Today” interview Monday panned media outlets that honor the “old habit” of objective, critical reporting on global warming. “When you’re reporting on a story like the one you’re covering today … you don’t search out someone who still believes the Earth is flat and give them equal time.”

Instead of exposing themselves to this nonsense, environmentally conscious viewers should leave the lights on when they’re needed — and turn off NBC, instead.