It's the Second "Earth Hour" Today

by Robert Wilkinson

As you read these words, major cities in Asia have already dimmed their lights or turned them off to mark "Earth Hour," a global event demonstrating that by turning off the lights, we can prevent thousands of tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. To find out more, please read on.

Whenever it's 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm where you are, if your power comes from a grid, please dim all unnecessary lights and turn off any unnecessary devices that pull electric power. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, this global event involves 4000 urban areas across 88 countries. It rolls from time zone to time zone, which would make for a fairly dramatic movie if it were shot from an orbital satellite.

Quoting the Director of Earth Hour, via the AP news story, "Earth Hour has always been a positive campaign; it's always around street parties, not street protests, it's the idea of hope not despair. And I think that's something that's been incredibly important this year because there is so much despair around," he said. "On the other side of it, there's savings in cutting your power usage and being more sustainable and more efficient."

Among the events celebrating this time, we find candlelit speed-dating events to outdoor concerts, hot air balloon festivals to switched off appliances and computers, as the lights dim all across Asia. Even China is participating, though (of course) in their usual heavy handed style they've blocked the WWF Earth Hour website in several large cities in their ongoing fit of pique against His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

For more, please go to http://www.earthhour.org/

Here's U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Earth Hour video

Copyright © 2009 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Juliet]

How fantastic if it could be Earth Hour every night from 8:30-9:30pm everywhere in honour of planet Earth instead of just one night of the year!

[Isabel]

Dear Robert, Lisbon also participated and the main buildings and monuments has their lights dimmed, as well as many private houses.

I have updated the

http://newsletterfromlisbon.blogspot.com/

Love and Hope,

Isabel

[Robert]

Hi Juliet - Yes, being mindful of wasting energy is a habit to be cultivated, so that we walk gently on our Earth. There is so much we take for granted. If only some of the large buildings that sit empty could be converted to shelters, and even urban garden spaces, many would not suffer as they currently do. And of course, it would seem that if we truly raised the cost of energy, there wouldn't be so much waste. Or conversely, if we totally dedicated ourselves to clean sources, such as wind, waves, and sun, then we'd be putting a lot less particulates into the atmosphere and we'd all still benefit, whether we left the lights on or not.

Hi Isabel - You live in a very beautiful city.

[Chris]

Sadly,

Without carbon in the atmosphere no tree would have anything useful to transpire.

Earth hour is but a feel good gimmick.

More smoke and mirrors from the oligarchy whilst we all walk headlong into ridiculously mandated programs of taxation built upon 'consensus' rather than scientific fact.

I weep for the intellect of the common human as its been hijacked by hollywood and sociopaths like Al Gore.

[Juliet]

Hey Chris,

When I first read your response I thought...it's an April Fool's Joke, right? Then I thought...hmmm, maybe he really does mean that, so...

Let's hear it for 'feeling good'!!!!

There's just not enough positivity out there/in here these days. I say, celebrate what puts a smile on your face and a lift in your step, and to the naysayers...well here's hoping there is something...(big orchestral music buildup here)"Somewhere out there" that makes you feel good.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" :) :) :) :)

[Robert]

Hi Chris - Speaking as a "common human," I waited a couple of days to see if you in fact have a sense of humor, courtesy of Juliet. Let's objectively examine what you wrote. Your post states, in order: a) a generalized "scientific" assertion using extreme language that leads nowhere, b) your opinion of something there's nothing wrong with, c) a non sequitur, and d) an ad hominem attack on two unrelated entities. I'll also add that I have had to deal with genuine sociopathic people in the past, leading me to the opinion you have no idea what you're talking about, at least in the realms of psychology or sociology.

Hi Juliet - At first I wasn't sure if it was a joke, since it didn't convey anything I could relate to as funny, ironic, or satiric. I wholeheartedly agree there's nothing wrong with "feeling good," including events that help facilitate that. We truly need more that makes us laugh and rejoice in our aliveness and togetherness. I've always felt that critics should "put up or shut up" when it comes to improving conditions, rather than attack those of us who are willing to offer what we can to make for a better world, even in small ways. I guess he doesn't like the movies (such a shame - who doesn't like Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Tom Hanks, or Meryl Streep?) And it's pretty churlish to accuse Al Gore of being a sociopath. Feeling good and being happy are very good things.