Pitt envisions day when energy bills will be ‘useless'

TODAY. AUG 27, 2007. By Mike Celizic

Brad Pitt wants to make energy bills go away, and he doesn’t think that’s an outlandish pipe dream. In the second part of an exclusive one-on-one interview with TODAY’s Ann Curry, he showed how the new houses he’s helping to build in New Orleans will make a giant stride toward that goal.

“The idea that we pay utility bills is absolutely unnecessary,” he said as he led a tour of what will be an affordable house in the city’s devastated Ninth Ward. “I mean, there's the sun. Feel the breeze that's been created here. And we got water right out there,” he said, gesturing out an opening in the wall that will be a window.

“Any one of these can be harnessed,” he continued. “And we can integrate ourselves into that ecosystem, and not only power our houses, but actually produce energy for other parts of the city.”

The actor and activist sponsored a design competition for affordable apartments and houses along with Global Green USA. With the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arriving next week, work on 18 apartments and five homes is nearing completion. Global Green is constructing the homes, which will be sold to residents, with preference being given to former residents of the neighborhood.

The housing will not be totally independent of the energy grid. “The family that will live here will save 75 percent on their energy bill,” he told Curry.

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