New Academy Members: Katy Perry's Russell Brand, Beyonce Knowles, Lead List

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences (home of The 84th Annual Academy Awards) has announced it's annual list of new members, and this one of 178 is really exciting, as it's paced by the popular trio of Russell Brand, of the Arthur remake, but better known as Ms. Katy Perry, and Bradley Cooper of Limitless, and The Hangover movie series, and the incomparable Beyonce Knowles, and for her performance in Dreamgirls.

The Academy also took the unprecedented step of adding the documentary film maker Tim Hetherington as a member, who was killed in action Libya.

"These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today. Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks," said Academy Board President Tom Sherak.

No Twitter tweet from either Brand or Perry on the news, and Cooper is said to "shun" social networking, and Beyonce has had a ton of problems with Twitter Trolls, but there's no word from the fake Bradley Cooper or Beyonce Twitter sites, either.

Academy Picks Less Than 211 Maximum

The Academy could have selected up to 211 eligibles for membership in 2011, but it elected not to do so, leaving observers wondering who should have been on the list that's not there. But that's for another blog, because relative newcomers like Jesse Eisenberg, and Rooney Mara , who played well together with he as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and she as the first girlfriend who told him off in The Social Network, and long-time actors Gerard Butler, David Duchovny, Tea Leoni, have made it this year.

And Ellen Page and Anthony Mackie, who I met at the 2010 NFL Draft...



Are on the list.

Mackie's still living that dream...

Public Relations People?

And before we look at the full list, a special mention of the PR people who really run things in Hollywood. No actor is known. No movie is seen without their influence, and this group of ten is no exception.

There's Ira Rubenstein, the EVP for Msrvel Entertainment, who's helped succesfully steer Marvel from comic book icon organization to movie icon organization in an effort that only looks easy.

Among those joining Ira are Susan Ciccone of 42 West and Alissa Grayson of Universal,

42 West is a marketing company with such clients as Woody Allen, Uma Thurman, Kate Winslet, and picked up Tom Cruise away from Rogers and Cowan. 42 West arguably has some of the most powerful women in entertainment, with Ciccone, and the ever-active Leslee Dart, as well. (And no, 42 West has NO idea I'm blogging this.)

Alissa Grayson, a 16-year industry veteran, was promoted to EVP of Publicity (that's Executive Vice President) of Universal in 2010, and manages a staff of almost 50 people.

Rounding out the list are Jeffrey Hall, Jill Ann Jones (J.J. Jones Creative), Mark Markline (Universal's International Publicity head), Carmelo Pirrone of Sony Pictures, Loren Schwartz of Screen Gems, the Sony ad agency, and Lance Volland of Warner Bros.

Here's the full list of new Academy Members for 2011:


Actors
Russell Brand – "Arthur," "Get Him to the Greek"
Gerard Butler – "The Ugly Truth," "300"
Vincent Cassel – "Black Swan," "Eastern Promises"
Robbie Coltrane – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Mona Lisa"
Bradley Cooper – "Limitless," "The Hangover"
John Corbett – "Sex and the City 2," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
Rosemarie DeWitt – "The Company Men," "Rachel Getting Married"
Peter Dinklage – "Find Me Guilty," "The Station Agent"
David Duchovny – "Things We Lost in the Fire," "The X-Files"
Jesse Eisenberg – "The Social Network," "The Squid and the Whale"
Jennifer Garner – "Arthur," "Juno"
John Hawkes – "Winter's Bone," "The Perfect Storm"
Thomas Jane – "The Mist," "The Thin Red Line"
Nastassja Kinski – "An American Rhapsody," "Tess"
Beyonce Knowles – "Dreamgirls," "Austin Powers in Goldmember"
Mila Kunis – "Black Swan," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
Jennifer Lawrence – "Winter's Bone," "The Burning Plain"
Tea Leoni – "Ghost Town," "Spanglish"
Anthony Mackie – "The Hurt Locker," "Million Dollar Baby"
Lesley Manville – "Another Year," "Topsy-Turvy"
Rooney Mara – "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Social Network"
Dominic Monaghan – "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Connie Nielsen – "Brothers," "Gladiator"
Ellen Page – "Inception," "Juno"
Wes Studi – "Avatar," "The Last of the Mohicans"
Mia Wasikowska – "Jane Eyre," "The Kids Are All Right"
Jacki Weaver – "Animal Kingdom," "Cosi"

Animators
Geefwee Boedoe – "Let's Pollute," "Monsters, Inc."
Alessandro Carloni – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Over the Hedge"
Sylvain Chomet – "The Illusionist," "The Triplets of Belleville"
Jakob Hjort Jensen – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Flushed Away"
Biljana Labovic – "The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger," "Idiots and Angels"
Tomm Moore – "The Secret of Kells," "Backwards Boy"
Teddy Newton – "Day & Night," "Ratatouille"
Bob Peterson – "Up," "Finding Nemo" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Javier Recio Gracia – "The Lady and the Reaper," "The Missing Lynx"
Andrew Ruhemann – "The Lost Thing," "City Paradise"
Kristof Serrand – "How to Train Your Dragon," "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas"
Shaun Tan – "The Lost Thing," "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!"
Simon Wells – "Mars Needs Moms," "The Prince of Egypt"
Art Directors
Anahid Nazarian – "The Virgin Suicides," "The Godfather, Part III"
Lauren E. Polizzi – "Cowboys & Aliens," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
At-Large
George Aguilar
Barry Bernardi
Christopher Dodd
Ted Gagliano
James L. Honore
Dawn Hudson
Beverly Pasterczyk
Randall Poster
Ric Robertson
David Schnuelle
Randy Spendlove
Beverly Joanna Wood
Casting Directors
Nina Gold – "The King's Speech," "Jane Eyre"
Jina Jay – "The Reader," "Layer Cake"
Lora Kennedy – "The Town," "Syriana"
Cinematographers
Frank Byers – "Illegal Tender," "Boxing Helena"
Patrick Cady – "Lottery Ticket," "Broken Bridges"
Danny Cohen – "The King's Speech," "Pirate Radio"
Lukas Ettlin – "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Middle Men"
Steven Fierberg – "Love & Other Drugs," "Secretary"
Barry Markowitz – "Crazy Heart," "Sling Blade"
Charles Minsky – "Valentine's Day," "Pretty Woman"
Lawrence Sher – "The Hangover," "Garden State"
Eric Steelberg – "Up in the Air," "(500) Days of Summer"
Costume Designers
Odile Dicks-Mireaux – "An Education," "The Constant Gardener"
Sarah Edwards – "Salt," "Michael Clayton"
Danny Glicker – "Up in the Air," "Milk"
Directors
Gregg Araki – "Kaboom," "Nowhere"
Susanne Bier – "In a Better World," "After the Wedding"
Neil Burger – "Limitless," "The Illusionist"
Lisa Cholodenko – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Debra Granik – "Winter's Bone," "Down to the Bone" (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Tom Hooper – "The King's Speech," "The Damned United"
John Cameron Mitchell – "Rabbit Hole," "Shortbus"
Yojiro Takita – "Departures," "Himitsu"

Documentary
Jon Alpert – "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," "Lock-up: The Prisoners
of Rikers Island"
Amir Bar-Lev – "The Tillman Story," "Fighter"
Lesley Chilcott – "Waiting for 'Superman'," "It Might Get Loud"
Carl Deal – "Capitalism: A Love Story," "Trouble the Water"
Charles Ferguson – "Inside Job," "No End in Sight"
Tim Hetherington – "Restrepo" (posthumous)
Sebastian Junger – "Restrepo"
Thomas Lennon – "The Warriors of Qiugang," "The Blood of Yingzhou District"
Diane Weyermann – "Waiting for 'Superman'," "Food, Inc."
Ruby Yang – "The Blood of Yingzhou District," "The Warriors of Qiugang"
Executives
William J. Damaschke
Richard M. Fay
Donna Langley
Leslie Moonves
Vanessa L. Morrison
Bill Pohlad
Rich Ross
Jeff Small
Thomas Tull
Film Editors
Tariq Anwar – "The King's Speech," "American Beauty"
Naomi Geraghty – "Limitless," "Reservation Road"
Jon Harris – "127 Hours," "Layer Cake"
Darren Holmes – "How to Train Your Dragon," "The Iron Giant"
Pamela Martin – "The Fighter," "Little Miss Sunshine"
Joel Negron – "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "The Karate Kid"
Terilyn A. Shropshire – "Jumping the Broom," "Eve's Bayou"
Angus Wall – "The Social Network," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Andrew Weisblum – "The Black Swan," "The Wrestler"
Live Action Short Films
Luke Matheny – "God of Love," "Earano"

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Judy Chin – "Black Swan," "Requiem for a Dream"
Kathrine Gordon – "3:10 to Yuma," "Ocean's Eleven"
Trefor Proud – "W.," "Topsy-Turvy"
Cindy Jane Williams – "Burlesque," "Hancock"
Wesley Wofford – "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son," "A Beautiful Mind"
Music
Terence Blanchard – "Inside Man," "Malcolm X"
Fernand Bos – "Crazy Heart," "Cold Mountain"
Graeme Revell – "Darfur Now," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider"
Producers
Iain Canning – "Oranges and Sunshine," "The King's Speech"
Cean Chaffin – "The Social Network," "Fight Club"
Kevin Feige – "Thor," "Iron Man"
Gary Goetzman – "Where the Wild Things Are," "Mamma Mia!"
Sisse Graum Jorgensen – "In a Better World," "After the Wedding"
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon"
Todd Lieberman – "The Fighter," "The Proposal"
Robert Lorenz – "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Mystic River"
Celine Rattray – "The Kids Are All Right," "Grace Is Gone"
Emile Sherman – "The King's Speech," "Candy"
Emma Thomas – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Gareth Unwin – "The King's Speech," "Exam"
Production Designers
Howard Cummings – "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "John Grisham's The Rainmaker"
Therese DePrez – "Black Swan," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
Guy Hendrix Dyas – "Inception," "The Brothers Grimm"
Jess Gonchor – "True Grit," "Capote"
Jane Musky – "Something Borrowed," "Finding Forrester"
Eve Stewart – "The King's Speech," "Topsy-Turvy"
Public Relations
Susan Ciccone
Alissa Grayson
Jeffrey Hall
Jill Ann Jones
Mark Markline
Carmelo Pirrone
Ira Rubenstein
David Schneiderman
Loren Schwartz
Lance Volland
Set Decorators
Judy Farr – "The King's Speech," "Death at a Funeral"
Gene Serdena – "The Fighter," "House of Sand and Fog"

Sound

Andrew DeCristofaro – "Hall Pass," "Crazy Heart"
Joe Dorn – "The Wolfman," "Spider-Man 3"
Marc Fishman – "Bridesmaids," "Crash"
Lora Hirschberg – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Chris Jargo – "Robin Hood," "American Gangster"
John Midgley – "The King's Speech," "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace"
Ed Novick – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Hammond Peek – "King Kong," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Brian Vessa – "Nemesis," "Lambada"
Mark Weingarten – "The Social Network," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Visual Effects

Tim Alexander – "Rango," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Rob Bredow – "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "The Polar Express"
Tim Burke – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Gladiator"
Peter Chesney – "No Country for Old Men," "Men in Black"
Paul Franklin – "Inception," "The Dark Knight"
Kevin Tod Haug – "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," "Quantum of Solace"
Florian Kainz – "Mission: Impossible III," "The Perfect Storm"
Marshall Krasser – "Iron Man 2," "Titanic"
Sean Phillips – "Alice in Wonderland," "The Polar Express"
Peter G. Travers – "Watchmen," "The Matrix Reloaded"
Brian Van't Hul – "Coraline," "I, Robot"
Mark H. Weingartner – "Sex and the City 2," "Inception"

Writers

Stuart Blumberg – "The Kids Are All Right," "Keeping the Faith"
Lisa Cholodenko – "The Kids Are All Right," "Laurel Canyon" (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Debra Granik – "Winter's Bone," "Down to the Bone" (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Karen McCullah Lutz – "The Ugly Truth," "Legally Blonde"
Aline Brosh McKenna – "27 Dresses," "The Devil Wears Prada"
Bob Peterson – "Up," "Finding Nemo" (also invited to the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch)
David Rabe – "The Firm," "Casualties of War"
Anne Rosellini – "Winter's Bone"
David Seidler – "The King's Speech," "The King & I"
Scott Silver – "The Fighter," "8 Mile"
Kirsten Smith – "The Ugly Truth," "Legally Blonde"
Aaron Sorkin – "The Social Network," "A Few Good Men"
Daniel Waters – "Batman Returns," "Heathers"

NOTE FROM AMAPAS: Additionally, the Academy invited John Coffey, Risa Gertner and Robert C. Rosenthal to Associate membership. Associate members are not represented on the Board and do not have Academy Awards® voting privileges.

Individuals invited to join multiple branches must select one branch upon accepting membership.
New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.

The Vancouver Riots: Dramatic Photos By VancityAllie

Riots and fires now at Georgia and Homer... Smoke going up, batons and shields up. #YVR, a photo by VancityAllie on Flickr.

Vancouverite VancityAllie, who's blog posts were featured here during the 2010 Olympics, is back again with a series of dramatic first-person photos from the Vancouver Riots.

In the video, I joked that she had not posted anything on her blog, and so must be out there. I was correct - she was recording what was going on.

She says the photo above the video describes riots and fires now at Georgia and Homer Streets in downtown Vancouver. "Smoke going up, batons and shields up."

The photo gives a good idea of how much of the downtown was impacted by the rioting. Even people in those areas near riot action were affected by the smoke from the burning cars and trash cans.



In that photo above, another fire was set on the other side of Homer Street. You can see the amount of trash on the street, left in the wake of the rioting progress.



Vancity reports that the crowd of downtown rioters has not only converged on the Jeep, but eventually would push it over.



This photo reports another fire on Homar Street, between Robson and Smithe.



As all of the riot action was taking place nearby, the victorious Boston Bruins were being escorted out of the city. You can just see their bus on the left of the photo.

Stay tuned for more photos.

The Vancouver Riots And Kissing Couple Make Statement

The Vancouver Riots are history, but that they happened, now 24 hours ago and after the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks 4 zip and drunk fans proceeded to trash the downtown, the city's counting the cost of the damage.

What happened to cause the riots is that you had young fans who were just plain pissed off and a product of an Internet age of immediate expression of anger and instant self-gratification.

Where a loss in sports was once much ado about the game, now it's much ado about civic destruction and love-making.

What the Vancouver Riots also did was forever (I hope) erase the totally racist idea that urban blacks are more prone to riot than any other group of people. The U.S. Media has played a great role in advancing that stereotype, but today it's no more.

What we saw was total destruction, countered by one interesting moment that reminded this blogger of some of Actress Amy Smart's best public sex scenes.

A couple laying in the middle of the street, kissing, and the woman with her skirt up way too high implying the next phase of action, as the rioting was happening around him.

It wasn't staged, and this was confirmed by Sarah Lache, who works for Comcast Sports Chicago, and stayed up until 3 AM Wednesday morning trying to determine if the photo taken by Richard Lam of Getty captured a real and not a staged moment.

And Lache agreed with this blogger via Twitter that the scene reminder her of Amy Smart at her movie sexual best, too.

Well, at least some good humor was found in all of this violence - thanks to Scott Jones and Alex Thomas.

They are the kissing couple.

According to Nine News, he is from Austrialia and she's from Vancouver. The stand-up comic who was performing in the city, had recently started dating Thomas.

Wow. 

Academy Awards (AMPAS) New "Variable" Best Picture Rules A Mistake

For the last two years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has used a 10-movie Best Picture, preference voting system to pick the "best of the best." But now, and after a vote by the Board Of Governors of AMPAS of six of 14 votes total (and that's all the voting info that was in the press release), to add what they call a "twist," but what this blogger thinks is causes damage to the overall improved ratings for the event.

Now, rather than an assured ten movies being nominated for Best Picture, the number could vary between five movies and ten movies - that's a huge error, but what's done is done.

Here's Academy President Tom Sherak to explain the idea behind the changes: "With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we've been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years."

Sherak noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the Board of Governors, according to AMPAS.

AMPAS Spokesperson Leslie Unger said The Academy went back over the last 10 years of "Best Picture" voting and determined that "the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5. After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5 percent of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies."

Bruce Davis said “In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies. A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn't feel an obligation to round out the number."

Unger explains that if the system had been in place over the last 10 years, "there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees." She explains that once the number of nominations is determined, the preference voting system will still be used to pick the Best Picture winner.

AMPAS Must Focus On TV Ratings

That decision is an enormous mistake because it effectively removes the chance that a popular movie could reach the level of "Best Picture" and help drive ratings for the Oscar telecast. This move will effectively shrink ratings potential and revenue for Oscar itself for those years where the number is less than ten, and a box-office hit fails to make the Best Picture list.

That scenario, coupled with AMPAS still-poor social media program, will guarantee poor ratings problems for years to come.

Sad to say.

Other AMPAS Changes.

This corner has no strong view of the other changes noted in the press release, so here's what AMPAS via Unger is reporting:

Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category. Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category. In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated. When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

In the visual effects category, the "bakeoff" at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders. The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category was increased from three to five. (Me: logical move.)

Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories. The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor "housekeeping" changes.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards Nominations Presentation will be held Tuesday, January 24th at 5:30 AM.

Anthony Weiner Resigns - Video Press Conference And Job Offer

New York U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner did something on Thursday this blogger honestly didn't think he would do: resign from his seat in Congress.

In a press conference that has been correctly described as a "circus, the 25-year elected official announced he was stepping down from public life, and to take time to correct his life and obviously work to repair a marriage undoubtedly damaged.

Weiner, who personally contacted and sent lewd photos of himself to five women, first said he would not resign, but apparently saw his political life fading as many Democrats ran away from him and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly threatened to strip him of committee assignments.

That move alone would make it much harder for Congressman Weiner to help his constituents.

So, at 2 PM ET, Weiner took to a podium at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to first explain that the venue was where his political career started, and then said...

Unfortunately the distraction that I have created makes that [work] impossible... so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

And that's when all hell broke lose in the form of a man we didn't know until Thursday. That's when he yelled "Goodbye Pervert" and other choice words I really don't want to type here.

Now, we know his name is Benjy Bronk (right), and we know he represents The Howard Stern Show.

And we also know he likes to be in interesting photos of his own (see below - that's really Bronk himself).

Some people just don't think about the photos they're in, do they?  Or maybe Bronk doesn't care? 

At any rate, that planned Howard Stern injection of bombast didn't make things any better for Weiner, and added a sad note to the press conference proceedings.

Anthony Weiner's Future: Larry Flynt?

What's Anthony Weiner's future? Well, we really don't know, but it's good to know that Weiner has at least one appropriate option: working for Hustler Founder Larry Flynt.

In Thursday's Huffington Post, Mr. Flynt wrote:

I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. As a Congressman, you are known for your intensity and perseverance...This offer is not made in jest. To show our sincerity, Flynt Management Group, LLC is willing to pay twenty percent more than your former Congressional salary ($174,000), ensuring that your medical benefits would be equal to what you were previously receiving....While you will have to relocate to our corporate offices in Beverly Hills, California, we would pay for all relocation costs.

The job offer is apparently open-ended, and it's not clear exactly what Flynt would ask Weiner to do, although the statement "While this employment opportunity is being offered in large part due to your qualifications and clear passion for making a change.." would seem to point to the same actions that caused him to step down, that's not clear.

Stay tuned.

Oakland's Tupac Shakur Turns 40 - His Senseless Murder

Oakland Rapper and Actor Tupac Shakur turns 40 today, and yet while he's not with us, his spirit is.

The legendary poet-rap writer was gunned down in 1996, and by four-shots from a gunman in Las Vegas (the video mistakenly reports 1994 as the year Mr. Shakur was murdered.

Now, a man named Dexter Isaac says he was responsible for the 1994 shooting and robbery that, for some time, Sean (P Diddy) Colmes was said to have been responsible for. Isaac also offered that he was paid $2,500 to go after Tupac Shakur.

Think about that.

A man was paid less money that some people make in a month to kill Tupac Shakur. Mr. Isaac must be a sad sack to even think of doing that - messing up his life and Mr. Shakur's for a measly $2,500.

That's just plain nuts, but also shows you how screwed up our culture can be.

Meanwhile, Tupac lives on with us in his way.

Philippines Lanches Renewable Energy Program

President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has noticed that there are many power shortages across the country and realizes that it's time to look toward renewable energy, such as solar.

Philstar News reports that by 2030 the Philippines will join the many other countries using renewable resources as power sources. He says that this will help rebuild the nation:


"He added that through renewable energy, the government can supply the electricity needs of the people at a lower cost and not at the expense of the environment.

With the NREP in place, the government hopes to achieve the " twin goals of harnessing our renewable energy potential while ensuring that our people's energy needs are met," Aquino said.

"With this in mind, the plan is to nearly triple our renewable energy-based capacity from around 5,400 megawatts in 2010 to 15, 300 megawatts in 2030," Aquino said."

ABS-CBN news interviews Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug:


" "We're hoping renewable energy will account for at least 50% of our energy mix by 2030," Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug told reporters on Tuesday.

"Within this month we will award between 40 and 80 contracts, mostly for hydro. There will be a few (contracts for) wind and some solar," Layug said

The Southeast Asian country's new renewable energy target is more ambitious than a goal, announced last December, to double renewable energy output in 20 years.

The Philippines imports most of its oil needs at present. High oil prices have pushed inflation up this year, and were a factor in the central bank's decision to increase interest rates in March and May.

"(Renewable energy resources) are expensive now because of the emerging technology, but in the long term we see that the price will start coming down, making it cheaper than (traditional sources)," Layug said."


This is great! The whole world needs to realize solar energy is the way to go!