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There are many groups which are harnessing this visual power. Having already reached many through the visually powerful mountain-top removal through the Appalachian Voices and mapping the destruction that has raged across Sudan, Google realized the unique opportunity to connect people across the world. "At Google, we believe technology can be a catalyst for education and action," Elliot Schrage, Google’s vice president, said in a statement.

The United Nations Environment Programme are using the satellite pictures as a "wake-up all to of us to look at the sometimes devastating changes we are wreaking on our planet." Using images focused on hot spots, their goal is to help people identify and understand the damage humans are causing upon the planet, and then to help them make an effort to change. Many issues ranging from water shortages, forest and biodiversity loss to climate change occur over a period of time which makes it difficult to appreciate the degree of damage that has occurred. Through approximately 30 years of images condensed to a time-sequence series, the viewer is able to visually connect the statics with powerful images.

Fair Trade Certified products was the newest layer announced, along with the Global Heritage Fund and Earthwatch Expeditions. This new layer allows consumers to view information on TransFair USA certified products. Over 70 co-ops are marked, including coffee, tea, chocolate, mangoes, and bananas. Each co-ops pop-up includes a picture as well as information about the Co-op, it’s location and community betterment programs which result from the sale of their Fair Trade goods. Creating this connection between consumers and producers is essential for honest and fair trade for when there is a person behind the product people are more likely to respect the humanity that went into production.

As Dr. Jane Goodall said, "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. With Google Earth Outreach, more people have the chance to see, to care, and then to act."

To access these new layers simply download Google Earth and expand the Global Awareness layer to see those available and check out the many Fair Trade products and the people who grow them.

In the past week alone, we've seen the U.N. point its finger squarely at the developed nations responsible for most of the carbon dioxide in the air, and have heard Asian leaders lash out against their region's growing reputation as pollution poster child.

Not to excuse countries like China, because it is a fast-rising contributor to global pollution and greenhouse gases, but why is that? Because we consumers in the West have an insatiable appetite for the cheap goods it pumps out. If we weren't buying all that stuff, China wouldn't be making it.

The Sudan situation and global warming's role in worsening it is stickier, so I'll leave that for now. But how's this for a solution to the Chinese goods/pollution problem: a carbon import tax imposed by the nations buying what polluted, developing countries make? The more the exporters pollute, the steeper the tax. That way, we provide developing nations with an incentive to cut emissions, and we gain a revenue stream that can be directed toward carbon mitigation or alternative energy projects.

The event features guest speaker Gillian Christie. As founder and CEO of Christie Communications, a communications and public relations firm, Christie works to promote the products and services of ethical companies. She will discuss her perspective on environmental messaging and the opportunities and challenges of differentiating green products in an increasingly crowded market. Christie will also share examples from Sri Lanka and Sudan, detailing how her company gives back in its global quest to promote sustainability and human rights.

Though Net Impact is one of the sponsors, you don’t need to be a member to attend. Both professionals and students are welcome, though there is a fee for entry ($25 for professionals, $20 for students). Dues-paying professional and student members receive discounts ($22 for professionals, $17 for students). Drinks and light snacks will be served.

In case you’re not familiar with Net Impact, it is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of new leaders who use business to improve the world.” With more than 10,000 members, the organization spans five continents. Members include leaders in CSR, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, international development, and environmental sustainability.

At the event, co-sponsor SustainLane will officially launch the Los Angeles version of its online, community-powered directory of green businesses and products. On the site, you can find and review eco-friendly resources, recommending your favorites to others.

In addition to the directory, the site offers some cool extras. Check out The Unsustainables, an original animated series featuring a family that “stumbles toward the future in an attempt to live green.” Also, you can see where your city ranks in sustainability, thanks to SustainLane’s US City Rankings. Angelenos, we’ve come in at a dismal #25 – we have some work to do to catch up to #1 Portland, OR.

The event is to be held at epOxybOx, an art gallery in Venice that features artists who work with recycled, reclaimed and renewed materials. I’ve been hearing about epOxybOx a lot lately, so I’m excited to check out the space. The event begins at 7pm, and since food and drinks will be served, it seems like a great way to start the evening before heading over to the Green Drinks in Culver City.

A whole night of green – I love it!

If successful, pension funds representing teachers, police, firefighters, and other government employees would have to dump billions of dollars in equity in the offending companies. Presumably, the tidal wave of supply in unwanted stock will force the companies to divest from Sudan, or at best, force the companies to in turn force the regime to change its ways.

On the face of it, the decision to divest seems to be a clear cut moral choice, but in practice, conflicts of interest coupled with questions about whether divestment works not only stalls the pending legislation, but is also overturning existing legislation.

On the conflict question, opposing forces claim that a law forcing divestment conflicts with existing laws requiring fund managers to act in the best interest of the shareholders. If the companies in question generate better than average returns, the thinking goes, then fund managers have neglected their fiduciary duty to seek out the best returns. The fund managers, who are opposed to the law, point out that the companies, most of whom are from the oil and oil services sector, have not only outperformed the rest of their portfolio, but also the benchmark indexes. This much is true. Socially responsible investors must always concede better returns when heavy smokestack industries are in favor.

The last few years have seen superior returns from oil companies. However, when those companies are out of favor, SRI portfolios perform better. SRI portfolios are more heavily weighted toward technology and healthcare stocks, so for the seven years prior to the recent run-up in oil prices, SRI-screened portfolios performed better.

Divestment proponents lost a key battle on the conflict front. On February 23, a federal judge overturned Illinois' law, which was generally regarded as the most progressive, but also the most restrictive. The judge said such a law violates the federal government's authority to set foreign policy. Less restrictive laws have passed judicial muster, though.

Whether divestment works, or not, is also in question. Proponents point to the institutional investor pressure placed on the Apartheid-era regime in South Africa as a key reason for that regime's fall. Opponents claim that the reasons behind Apartheid's fall are more complex, and also say that excess supply caused by dumping will just be scooped up at bargain prices by investors with less scruples.

I can neither give concrete evidence that divestment does or does not work. However, if you own shares in the offending companies, whether through your pension or directly, then you personally are profiting from genocide. So, to me, it does not matter if it works. I would want no part of it. Companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Co. of India, China Natural Petroleum Corp., and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) should pay the price of propping up murderers.

Mark Brandon is the owner of First Sustainable, a socially responsible investment advisory. His weekly column on SRI appears in Green Options on Mondays.