Lights Out! 120 Nations Marking Earth Hour

(AP)  The white-shelled roof of the Sydney Opera House fell dark Saturday night, one of the first landmarks to turn out the lights in an hour-long gesture to be repeated by millions of people around the world who are calling for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Asian cities followed Australia and New Zealand as the fourth annual Earth Hour cranked up. Buildings in some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries were expected to unplug to reduce energy consumption and draw attention to the dangers of climate change, according to organizers.

The event will roll across the world, with participants turning off the lights when the clock strikes 8:30 p.m. local time. From a shopping mall in Manila to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York, landmarks and skylines will dim.

Earth Hour 2010 (Official Web Site)

"We have everyone from Casablanca to the safari camps of Namibia and Tanzania taking part," said Greg Bourne, CEO of World Wildlife Fund in Australia, the environmental group that came up with the idea that started in Sydney in 2007 and has since grown to every continent.

The shutdown is completely voluntary, and street lights, traffic lights and other safety measures are unaffected.

Andy Ridley, a WWF worker in Sydney who cooked up the idea of Earth Hour in a pub with friends, said he hoped this year's event would inspire world leaders to strive for a much stronger climate agreement than that struck at December's Copenhagen climate change summit, which failed to come up with binding rules on reducing pollution blamed for global warming.

"What we're still looking for in this coming year is a global deal that encourages all countries to lower their emissions," Ridley said Saturday. "China is going to have to be a big part of that but so is every other major economy."

China first took part in the campaign last year, and this year more than 30 cities were to switch off their lights, including those at the landmark Forbidden City in downtown Beijing.

A U.S.-born giant panda, Mei Lan, who lives at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, will kick off China's participation: When she walks onto a platform in her enclosure, the lights at the breeding centre will go out, said Chris Chaplin, communications officer for WWF in China.

Some 88 cities took part in last year's Earth Hour, which has the backing of the United Nations as well as global corporations, non-profit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities - including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Earth Hour organizers say there's no uniform way to measure how much energy is saved worldwide, but that the simple fact that so many places have signed up to take part should send a message to leaders that global warming is a topic of great concern to people worldwide.

In the Philippines, Roman Catholic bishops said they would urge the faithful to preserve natural resources during special prayers to be read on church-run radio for an hour starting at 8:30 p.m.

"Failure of today's people to care for the earth's resources is akin to stealing the future of the coming generations," said Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales.

Residents in 1,000 towns and municipalities were expected to switch off their lights in the Philippines, with the main event taking place at a Manila Bay mall complex, including a rock concert and street party, according to WWF-Philippines.

In Taiwan, the Presidential Palace along with at least 20 skyscrapers - including the world's second-tallest building - in the capital of Taipei switched off their lights. Hundreds of Taiwanese placed candles beside a Taiwan map formed by energy-saving LED lights at a square outside the city hall. Also dimmed for an hour were large advertising billboards in a nearby commercial district.
By Associated Press Writer Rohan Sullivan; AP writers Cara Anna in Beijing and Annie Huang in Tapei, Taiwan, contributed to this report

[dwa80a]

ITS CALLED CAP AND TRADE! you know, where we all send Al and the government money for carbon foot print and bogus crapp like that.
Keep drinking the kool-aid.

[dwa80a]

Man, you all really like the kool-aid huh! So innocent!

[Scimajor]

The light pollution is my town is disgusting. Our children are growing up not knowing what the night sky SHOULD look like. Our town is fairly small but even on a clear night you can count yourself fortunate to see a few dozen stars.

Malls and car dealerships are the worst offenders. If you happen to live near the car dealerships in our town you're lucky to see any stars at all.

[rwsmith29456]

Who thinks up this crap???

[DawnBroderick40]

What a waste of time this is. No one cares. I made sure to do my laundry during peak hours today because I can.

[louiville35]

by displeased March 28, 2010 12:41 PM EDT

Your arguments that crime increases when there is NO POWER will not keep me from turning off appliances and lights that I'm not using.
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True enough but we need to know the impact of major changes to our current usage to help mitigate future issues.

For example the ban on DDT seemed a good idea at the time but has helped kill millions of people world wide. They didn't even bother to find out if just limiting it's use would help while a cure for malaria was found.

As far as energy goes it's effectivly endless, the only shortage we seem to have is in imagination.

[louiville35]

by curse914 March 28, 2010 12:15 PM EDT
I just purchased one of the those book lights so I can read he Bible without a flood light. Turns out the flood lights around my house meant to keep out liberal criminals were making it harder to read because the pages were so bright; who would a thought it?!
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So you use electricity to read a book?? Shame on you, you environmental earth killer you. What happened to catching fire flys in a jar and reading paper books.

New York blackout 1977

"In all, 1,616 stores were damaged in looting and rioting. 1,037 fires were responded to, including 14 multiple-alarm fires. In the largest mass arrest in city history, 3,776 people were arrested. Many had to be stuffed into overcrowded cells, precinct basements and other makeshift holding pens. A Congressional study estimated that the cost of damages amounted to a little over US$300 million."

Bottom line the only thing holding us together it would seem is if the lights turn on.

[displeased]

Louiville, did the riots happen because of the lack of lights? Or was it the lack of lights, security systems, phones, and everything else affected by a complete blackout?

Your arguments that crime increases when there is NO POWER will not keep me from turning off appliances and lights that I'm not using.

[louiville35]

Well in 1977 as in today phones are on automatic power backup and are seperate from the power grid system. Security systems if they still worked would have been ineffective due to the volume of looting, rioting.....
Just like during the Rodney King Riots/looting in California where they had no power failure. The police would have just cordened the areas off to try and limit the problem. Then call out the National Guard.

[displeased]

I came across a city who has a pretty good light pollution ordinance. The ordinance says you have to be able to see the "Milky Way" while in the city. That's it no light meters or standard to go by just someone complaining no mater how blind they are. Result light fascists run around town handing out violations.
by louiville35


louiville, which city are you referring to? It's one thing to conserve and reduce waste, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of people's safety.

[louiville35]

Boulder, CO "(4) Provide an environmentally sensitive nighttime environment that includes the ability to view the stars against a dark sky so that people can see the Milky Way Galaxy from residential and other appropriate viewing areas;"

But if you look the ability to "see the Milky way" is in quite a few cities ordinances.

[louiville35]

"The whole mentality around Earth Hour demonizes electricity. I cannot do that, instead I
celebrate it and all that it has provided for humanity. Earth Hour celebrates ignorance,
poverty and backwardness. By repudiating the greatest engine of liberation it is nothing
more than an hour devoted to anti-humanism. It invites people to become sanctimonious
do-gooders by turning off trivial appliances for a trivial amount of time, in service of some
ill-understood abstract concept of ?the Earth,? all the while hypocritically retaining the real
benefits of electricity. People who want to do without electricity in service of some symbolic
solidarity with nature should shut off their fridge, stove, microwave, computer, water
heater, lights, TV and all other appliances for a month, not an hour. And pop down to the
cardiac unit at the hospital and shut the power off there too.
I don't want to go back to nature. Haiti just went back to nature. For humans, living in
"Nature" meant a short life span marked by violence, disease and ignorance. People who
work to end poverty and disease are fighting against nature. I hope they leave their lights
on."-http://sites.google.com/site/rossmckitrick/EarthHour.pdf?attredirects=2

[displeased]

I was under the impression that the appliances being turned off were not being used at the time. Calm down, nobody's going to cut off the power to your refrigerator. But, if there's a light on in a room that nobody is using, what's wrong with turning it off?

[louiville35]

I came across a city who has a pretty good light pollution ordinance. The ordinance says you have to be able to see the "Milky Way" while in the city. That's it no light meters or standard to go by just someone complaining no mater how blind they are. Result light fascists run around town handing out violations.

So I checked the crime data for the city and found that for most crimes rape, aggravated assault, burglaries, robberies......... the rates went up 20-50% since the ordinance went in.

In England when they went to blackouts during WWII, thousands were killed and maimed in traffic accidents.

Just a couple of small impact of less light.

I?m more worried about all the self imposed light fascists running around reporting people, you do know they have an ?App? for that right?


Bottom line knee jerk reactions usually cost more lives then they save.

[louiville35]

"2010 Earth Hour in California ? just as ineffective as last year
27

03

2010
Earth Hour has come and gone in California (8:30 to 9:30 PM PST) for 2010 without so much as a blip. In fact the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) power usage graph looks much like last year when there was also no discernible difference."

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/03/27/2010-earth-hour-in-california-just-as-ineffective-as-last-year/#more-17830

Another typical lib fantasy has come and gone with no measurable difference (all smoke and mirrors). The real question is can libs do anything right when it comes to technology? Example Al Gore's mansion uses MORE energy then before the libs did a energy make over.


It's certainly time to look behind the curtain to see who is pulling the strings.

[curse914]

I just purchased one of the those book lights so I can read he Bible without a flood light. Turns out the flood lights around my house meant to keep out liberal criminals were making it harder to read because the pages were so bright; who would a thought it?!