Celebrated celebrity, film star and all around good girl, Cameron Diaz made a pro-environmental statement last night by showing up to Hollywood’s red carpet in a BMW Hydrogen 7 luxury automobile. There’s something about Cameron driving up in a zero emissions hydrogen car that helped reinforce the notion among the Hollywood elite that green is the way to go.

Woe are last year’s B-List celebs in their passé Priuses or old school bicycles ala Ed Begley, Jr. Rather Ed Norton, Cameron Diaz, Jay Leno, Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are the hipster A-List celebs who dare to make a statement that hydrogen is the future of environmental wholeness and responsibility.

So, for Cameron Diaz showing at the 80th annual Academy Awards in a BMW Hydrogen 7, I have to give her “Best Supporting Actress in an Environmental Role”. I just have to figure out how to get her that trophy without any kind of ugly stalking charges thrown my way.

The vehicle that Jesse James will be driving this Spring was once called “Hydro Hell” and now is called the “Green Scream.” James, talking about environmental issues such as recycling, (as opposed to motorcycling) made his announcement at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

According to James, “We all want to go faster and have cooler, neater stuff, so we all have to pay our dues.” Jesse James was once the host of Monster Garage, a reality auto show, which last aired in June 2006.

There is no word yet as to whether Sandra Bullock or Al Gore will be riding shotgun when Jesse James attempts to cream the record in the Green Scream this Spring. He may, however, have to dodge over-enthusiastic fans, rather than bullets, if he is successful.

Last summer I lobbied to have Jay Leno drive a hydrogen car and in September, he did just that by driving a BMW Hydrogen 7 and then putting out a video of his experience. The Honda FCX Clarity is the first fuel cell car that Jay has driven as the BMW is powered by liquid hydrogen and an internal combustion engine.

In the Honda Clarity video, Jay seems to be trying to reconcile the differences between the two cars as he asks Sage Marie about compressed hydrogen gas versus liquid hydrogen and if the compressed gas “boils off” after a few weeks like the liquefied hydrogen gas does. Marie points out that compressed gas has not such issue as boil off.

Leno and Marie, go on to talk about such issues as the Hindenburg misconception, how hydrogen is safer than gasoline and the merits of a home refueling system for fuel cell cars and how everyone can achieve self-sufficiency in this area.

Jay Leno then takes a test drive to refuel the Honda Clarity and finds it easier than gasoline and less messy. Sage Marie talks about the current cost for refueling with hydrogen gas, which is $5 per kilogram (a kg equal a gallon). So, filling up the Clarity, which holds 4 kg will cost $20 and the Clarity can then drive for 270 miles, which equals 68 mpg.

Jay talks about the good acceleration on the highway and how he’s going faster than perhaps he should be. Wouldn’t this have been a dubious distinction for Jay Leno to become the first person in the world to receive a speeding ticket in a hydrogen car?

It’s good to see Jay Leno getting onboard with hydrogen cars. His star power and advocacy will convince many of the merits of hydrogen. So, what’s next for Jay’s Garage? Do I hear GM knocking at the door, offering the late night talk show king their Cadillac Provoq for a spin around Burbank?

As part of the overall foundation, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) formed in August 2006, has the mission of using best business practices to fight against global climate change and preserve the environment. The initiative primarily focuses upon helping large urban areas become green cities by leveraging high volume purchasing of green products.

Some of the green products that cities may purchase will help “decrease fuel consumption and pollution by vehicles.” This is where Ballard and Dynetek step in.

Ballard is one of Canada’s leading producers of fuel cells for vehicles. The fuel cell maker is hoping that Bill Clinton will be able to persuade many large cities to place orders for fuel cell buses and that this larger volume will drive down costs.

Dynetek, on the other hand, also based in Canada manufactures compressed hydrogen storage cylinders. Dynetek has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with the Clinton Climate Initiative to provide these storage cylinders to the cities with which the foundation is working.

Bill Clinton has high hopes for hydrogen and will undoubtedly influence many others to embrace the technology as well, one green city at a time.

Besides explaining the hydrogen car and talking with representatives from BMW, Jay also takes a sip of the water that has dripped out of the tailpipe and cracks a joke about the taste. Even though this is a dual fuel vehicle (gasoline and hydrogen) the car starts in hydrogen mode and takes a little longer to start than most cars since it has to purge the engine first of whatever fuel happens to be in it.

If you would like to take a trip inside Jay Leno’s Garage to check out the video simply click on the link and sit back and enjoy.

German chemist Gerhardt Ertl has also won the Nobel Prize for his work in surface chemistry. His efforts have resulted in catalytic converters stripping carbon monoxide from car exhaust and corrective action taken in regard to the depletion of the ozone layer in the atmosphere. But, Gerhardt Ertl has also made strides in hydrogen technology as well.

The Guardian Unlimited talks about Gerhardt Ertl’s achievements saying “The scientist first studied the behaviour of hydrogen on metal surfaces, a reaction that forms the bedrock of plans to develop an environmentally friendly hydrogen economy. It governs how hydrogen is produced from the electrolysis of water, and how fuel cells can convert that hydrogen into electricity.”

So, congratulations to Al Gore and Gerhardt Ertl for their work on bringing awareness about climate change and reducing greenhouse gases. Could Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, have ever predicted that this year’s winners would be men dedicated to saving the planet from imploding? Probably so, since Alfred Nobel, like Gore and Ertl knew how to keep his eye on the prize.

But, whatever magic was at work, Jay Leno is now driving a BMW Hydrogen 7 and for one small speck in time the universe is aligned and life makes sense. Leno will keep the BMW Hydrogen 7 at his famed “Green Garage” in Burbank, California that is mostly powered by steam energy.

As a celebrity gearhead and environmentalist it just makes sense that Jay Leno should be driving a hydrogen car. If one were to take a tour of Jay Leno’s Garage, one will probably find the Hydrogen 7 parked right next to the Ecojet, a biodiesel burning rocket-car Jay helped General Motors design.

Jay Leno is the second celebrity to receive a BMW Hydrogen 7 to drive on a daily basis with Will Ferrell being the first in August of this year. Who’s next? My short list of celebrities who also need to be driving hydrogen cars include Al Gore, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Daryl Hannah and Susan Sarandon.

The decision to hand over the keys to Ferrell is part of the newly initiated BMW Hydrogen 7 Pioneer Program. Under this program, prominent figures in the entertainment industry and business and political leaders will be given one of these luxury hydrogen cars for everyday use.

The purpose of the Pioneer Program is to promote public awareness that hydrogen cars, such as the BMW Hydrogen 7, are not only concept cars and prototypes but production vehicles as well. The Pioneer Program states that hydrogen cars are here now, and not just a promise or a dream that may just happen at some far off date in the fuzzy future.

Will Ferrell is the first of several Americans who will receive the BMW Hydrogen 7 in the coming months for everyday use. In the past, others who have been loaned the hydrogen car for the short-term include Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere and Sharon Stone, Peter Ligouri and Davis Guggenheim.

From Saturday Night Live and “More Cowbell” to Talladega Nights and “Hydrogen Car Guy,” Will Ferrell has come a long way over the last half dozen years and now he’s going to help us all drive into a cleaner and greener future.

Some other celebrities have recently been associated with hydrogen cars. Of course, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is onboard since he is promoting an entire hydrogen highway system in California. Brad Pitt also seems to be onboard since last month he stepped out of a BMW Hydrogen 7 luxury car at the opening of his new movie Ocean’s 13.

Jack Nicholson was onboard in 1978, when he sniffed the tailpipe of a hydrogen burning Chevy H2-4. Actress Q’orianka Kilcher is only 17-years-old and the car she is now driving, her first, is the Honda FCX hydrogen car.

But, as far as celebrities go, who is the biggest car nut, gearhead, motorhead, and enthusiast of them all? Jay Leno. Where is Jay’s hydrogen car? Now, one may not think that Jay Leno is into alternative fuel vehicles, but he is.

Recently, Jay wrote an article promoting the Tesla Roadster electric car. Jay also helped General Motors design the Ecojet, which runs on ethanol. In Jay’s Garage there is also a 1909 Baker Electric car and a 1916 Owen Magnetic.

Back on June 3, I posted a note on Jay’s blog telling him that he needs a hydrogen car. Since I haven’t heard a word yet, I thought I would get some of the readers of this blog involved. Email Jay Leno at Tonightshowfeedback AT nbcuni.com and tell Jay that he needs a hydrogen car in his garage.

How can the world’s largest celebrity gearhead and King of Late Night Comedy be without such a vehicle?

At the eco rally, Ford also made the European debut of their Ford Explorer FCV. Both Ford FCV’s made their way to the UK eco road rally from their Aachen Research Centre in Germany.

Prince Charles may not have been riding in a royal carriage or even a pumpkin, but, giving the royal touch and blessing to hydrogen car technology can be seen as nothing less than magical as a new era is dawning for hydrogen acceptance.