The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Before He Was Indicted, Ted Stevens Was “Tubed” by Blair Golson

Strawberry Fields Forever by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

Green Video of the Week: Crazy Alien Plants

Fat Princess Video Game: The Joke’s Not Really That Funny

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Andy Kondrat:

Alaska’s Northwest Passage to Open For Second Straight Year

Stephen Colbert Interview’s Brendan Koerner, Slate’s Green Lantern

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Jon Popham:

L.A. Bans New Fast Food Joints

Flint Michigan Seeks Sponsors…For Police Surveillance Cameras

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Gina Telaroli:

Veganism in Ohio: Update #2, Photo Diary

An Apology for Slavery and Jim Crow? We Shall See…

I generally tend to think that Stephen Colbert is too good for television, and he’s certainly trying to prove my theory correct with his recent interview of Brendan Koerner, the founder of Slate.com’s “Ask the Green Lantern.” In a very entertaining interview, we learn a few things, such as when it’s wise to roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning. Here we go:

You can takepart here and check out the latest installment of Ask the Green Lantern on Slate’s website.

It’s hand dryers vs. paper towels for the title of “Most Eco-Friendly Way to Dry Your Hands In a Public Restroom.” We know that both leave a carbon footprint - paper towels are made from paper, which is made from trees, which have to be chopped down to make paper. Electric hand dryers run on electricity, which takes its own toll on the environment. So which is the greener option? Find out after the JUMP —>

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If you’re stuck in traffic or waiting in a drive-through line, is it better for the environment to idle your car engine or turn off the gas? According to Slate, unless you’re driving something out of the dark ages, it’s rarely a good idea to leave the car running if you’re going to be stopped. Today’s cars use electronic fuel injectors, which rigorously control the amount of gas burned when you turn on the ignition. The outdated axiom that says turning on your car wastes the same amount of fuel as leaving the it idling for 30 minutes went out with the carburetor.

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Wish you could ask Laurie David, producer of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” your questions about the environment? How about chatting with Newt Gingrich about bipartisan environmentalism? For those unacquainted with Slate.com’s Earth Chats, it’s a great online discussion series featuring leading environmental thinkers, leaders and advocates who answer readers’ questions about environmental issues, and what we can do to improve our earthly habitat. This week being Earth Week, Slate chatted with a slew of heavy-hitting advocates. We’ve provided this week’s schedule below, with accompanying links to chat transcripts:

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Heath Ledger’s untimely death has left Warner Brothers Studios with the challenging tasks of both doing the necessary post-filming voice overs, and marketing the summer Batman blockbuster in the wake of last month’s tragedy. The studio still intends to release “The Dark Knight” in July 2008 as planned, but rumor has it that Ledger didn’t finish all of his lines before he died. The studio will probably have to hire a voice artist to fill in the gaps during necessary voice looping sessions, although they’ve been reluctant to admit it as they don’t want audiences listening for small voice variations in the film. In terms of merchandise sales, studio officials have been in meetings this week deciding what to do with t-shirts and toys depicting images of the late actor. They don’t want to be seen as exploiting Ledger’s image, but also don’t want piracy getting too out of hand. For the full article on Slate.com, click here.

Ledger was involved in a number of charities including LIFEbeat, the music industry’s charitable organization dedicated to reaching America’s youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. An excellent way to honor Ledger’s memory would be to and get involved with LIFEbeat’s Outreach and Hearts & Voices program.