Can Hip Hop Make Curbing Carbon Cool? Russel Simmons Thinks So

Fall is the time when colleges battle against each other for bragging rights.

I'm not talking about football. I'm talking about America's Greenest Campus. The national contest has U.S. colleges competing to lower their carbon footprint. Students, staff, faculty and alumni are being cheered on this year by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, who helped launch Def Jam records in the 1980s.

In a Public Service Announcement to go along with the campaign, Simmons says that "Hip hop makes the planet cool, now hip hop has to save it."

He says fans can help change the world by doing "small things" to reduce their carbon footprint, and sends listeners to americasgreenestcampus.com, where they can sign up and receive tips on how to clean up their act.

As of this week, the top spot on the Leader Board was held by University of Maryland at College Park, with George Mason University in second place and Rio Salado College in the No. 3 spot. Participants make pledges to lighten their load on the planet.

The PSA, produced by SmartPower, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, doesn't mention climate change, which scientists say is being induced by the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, among other things.

But the campaign is doing its part to cut greenhouse gases. More than 460 colleges are competing and have cut more than 16 million pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, organizers say.

The competition is now down to the wire.

It ends Oct. 5, with $5,000 prizes for schools with the most participants in the contest and the largest percentage of carbon emissions reduced. The money will go to fund sustainability programs on college campuses. There's also the chance to win $10,000 for the best video on energy awareness.

Simmons, the brother to the "Run" in Run-DMC and the founder of Phat Farm clothing, is still a fixture on the music scene. He's also a blogger at GlobalGrind.com, a hip hop news site he helped create.