By Mick Meaney |

There is a fine line between insanity and genius. Captain Ozone might look insane but his ideas are pure genius. There’s a lot I want to say about Captain Ozone and his experimental forms of environmental activism. He likes to brand himself as a “real-life” superhero and once you get over your first WTF!? moment (there will be many) it’s easy to see why he adopts such a persona. This is indeed about attracting media attention, but not for personal glory, the attention is always diverted to his core message; we need to protect endangered species and start using alternative energies.

When Ozone isn’t organising demonstrations, appearing on MTV, Time Travelling or farting, he spends his time developing and promoting green energy.

It would be easy to write about Ozone himself but that would defeat the very purpose of what Captain Ozone is all about. From tearing down “PETROL” banners with chainsaws at festivals to running electronics powered by hydrogen fuel cells in the middle of the woods, Ozone is making a powerful statement by showing us that we have the ability and technology to make changes we desperately need, today.

He states: “Building a renewable energy infrastructure worldwide can create millions of new industrial and scientific jobs, boosting our global economy. Renewable energy can make every nation self-sufficient and really end wars over limited supplies of foreign oil.”

Captain Ozone is also a major player in the hemp activism scene, RINF asked: ”Aside from making soft plastics, can you tell us more about the potential of this plant?”

“Hemp is most widely used for making textiles such as clothing. Hemp can make a very powerful rope as well. Virgin hemp oil is used in all sorts of cooking,” said Captain Ozone.

If only governments and corporations could see things the same way, hemp can be used for almost anything, even car moldings, kitchen cabinets to structural beams for buildings.

On the topic of his costume I asked: “With climate change campaigns gaining widespread support and political influence year after year, such as the British Climate Camp, is the Captain Ozone costume still required to attract media attention?”

He simply responded with: “Oh, my costume most definitely attracts media attention!”.

I don’t doubt it. From the array of newspaper headlines carrying his name, each news report is forced to discuss environmental issues. That cannot be ignored. The Captain has created a sublime Trojan horse that both entertains and educates the public.

Since long before politicians and the mainstream media gave a second thought to environmental issues, since 1989 in fact, Captain Ozone has been spreading the message and gaining support with his original brand of activism. The U.S. Department of Energy have even collaborated with him in making TV Public Service Announcements.

There are far too many Ozone projects to mention here so I will write about one of his recent major developments.

For the immediate future the good Captain will be teaming up with Environmental Media Northwest to organise a march for renewable energy on 12th September, 2009. It aims to be the very first demonstration of its kind in America, raising public awareness and support for renewable energy far and wide.

He is asking thousands of people to contact him to help organise the event, these “dynamic agents of change” will gather on 12th September 2009 in cities across America, and possibly across the globe.

The march hopes to get people thinking and talking about Solar, Wind, Hydro, Geothermal and Hydrogen energy.

So far feedback has been very positive, “I’ve got a few email responses from people who are interested in marching for renewable energy” says Captain Ozone, “but it’s not enough.”

If you want to help Captain Ozone (and you should) please contact him at  willozone@gmail.com or email Environmental Media Northwest at  4hydrogen@gmail.com

RINF will be updating readers about the developments of this important project on a regular basis, so you have plenty of notice to keep your diaries free for 12th September 2009.

Before Captain Ozone flies off to his secret camp in the woods, he offers some practical solutions to help people decrease their carbon footprint: “Ride your bicycle, walk, recycle, plant trees, properly insulate your home, become a vegan, or don’t eat meat that is not organic.”