Brad Pitt Pledges $5M in for Green Rebuilding in New Orleans

Pitt issued a challenge in New Orleans on Monday to fundraisers, politicians, and corporations to donate to environmentally sound housing in the Lower Ninth Ward as part of his "Make it Right" project.  Even the name of that project is pretty awesome.

He and a billionaire named Steve Bing whom I'd never heard of until this morning, but who, according to Wikipedia, has produced a lot of bad movies, have each pledged $5 million in matching funds for the project.  The initial goal is to build 150 green homes in the ward, all on stilts to protect them from floods.  But, according to Brad Pitt, "there is no reason why we can't do 1,000 homes, why we can't do 10,000 homes, why we can't do 100,000 homes."  He says they're starting now in the Ninth Ward "because of the devastation, because of the immense hurdles for the homeowners, for the residents to come back here."  Residents are eligible for the new homes, which will cost about $150,000 each to build, if they previously owned a home in the area, and they will be asked to contribute what they can.  The first homes could be completed as early as May of 2008.

Here is a link to the project's site if you're interested in learning more about it.