‘24’ Goes Green For Season Seven

Red Alert: “24” is going green!

The show’s plan is to reduce and offset the carbon emissions from production throughout all of Season Seven, capping off with an entirely carbon-neutral season finale, The Washington Post reports.

“24” is the first series to take part in Fox’s “Cool Change” program, a company-wide initiative to reduce the network’s impact on global warming.

It’s time to get real for the show aired in “real time.“Fox spokesman Chris Anderson wants it known that this is not meant to be a publicity stunt or a ratings booster.

“We are publicizing ‘24’s’ commitment to climate change for two reasons and two reasons only: to inspire the public to take global warming seriously and hopefully to motivate other studios to make changes to their production practices as well,” he told The Washington Post.

Kiefer Sutherland and the rest of “24’s” cast and crew will now work on soundstages powered by electricity, rather than diesel fuel. Production vehicles and generators will run on a planet-friendly biodiesel blend, and location scouts are even getting hybrid Toyota Prius cars to get around with.

Also gone are car-delivered paper scripts, schedules and memos — they will now be sent via e-mail.

Sutherland’s Jack Bauer has saved people from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction in past seasons, and he may do so again this time around — but with climate change reportedly worked into the season’s plot.

While that may not sound like the makings of an action-packed thrill ride to some, the report notes that the plotline “just might scare some viewers into taking action.” A previous plotline with a setting in Africa was reportedly scrapped last month due to rising costs, and started over from scratch.

To further the Cool Change cause, Fox’s Web site now offers energy conservation tips and a public service announcement about global warming featuring Sutherland.

Season seven of “24” debuts in January 2008, with the addition of actress Cherry Jones as the new U.S. President.