Discovery to Launch Green Living Channel

Hit home shows like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Flip This House" and "Trading Spaces" have spawned entire home networks like HGTV. But Discovery Channel is reaching for a new, eco-friendly level in design shows: They're turning Discovery Home into a 24-hour channel dedicated solely to green living.

The yet-to-be-named channel will be broadcast to 50 million homes in 2008, with related content would posted on the network's Web site. Discovery is earmarking $50 million for programming and other costs associated with the endeavor. 

The channel is a natural for Discovery, which owns Animal Planet and TLC and is known for conservation-focused shows like "Planet Earth" and "Backyard Habitat." The new network is also supported by the rapidly rolling, eco-friendly bandwagon: Home magazine Domino recently published a "green" issue, as did Fortune, and the newest Vanity Fair cover features Leonardo DiCaprio and polar bear cub Knut posing on ice. If that isn't a sign that green living is hip, I don't know what is.