Earth Hour 2009

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Quote:CHICAGO – The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour.McDonald's will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change."Earth Hour makes a powerful statement that the world is going to solve this problem," said Carter Roberts, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour. "Everyone is realizing the enormous effect that climate change will have on them."Seven times more municipalities have signed on since last year's Earth Hour, which drew participation from 400 cities after Sydney, Australia held a solo event in 2007. Interest has spiked ahead of planned negotiations on a new global warming treaty in Copenhagen, Denmark this December. The last global accord, the Kyoto Protocol, is set to expire in 2012.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged the convention to reach a fair and effective climate change agreement and promoted Earth Hour participation in a video posted this month on the event's YouTube channel."Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message," Ban said. "They want action on climate change."Other videos have been posted by celebrities such as rocker Pete Wentz and actor Kevin Bacon and WWF has offered Earth Hour iPhone applications. Search engine Yahoo! says there's been a 344 percent increase in "Earth Hour" searches this February and March compared with last year.New studies increasingly highlight the ongoing effects of climate change, said Richard Moss, a member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and WWF's climate change vice president."We have satellites and we have ships out at sea and we have monitoring stations set up on buoys in the ocean," Moss said. "We monitor all kinds of things people wouldn't even think about. The scientific research is showing in all kinds of ways that the climate crisis is worsening."But not everyone agrees and at least one counter-protest is planned for Saturday.Suburban Philadelphia ice cream shop owner Bob Gerenser, 56, believes global warming is based on faulty science and calls Earth Hour "nonsense."The resident of New Hope, Pa., and owner of Gerenser's Exotic Ice Cream planned to illuminate his store with extra theatrical lighting."I'm going to get everyone I know in my neighborhood to turn on every light they possibly can to waste as much electricity as possible to underline the absurdity of this action ... by being absurd," he said.Earth Hour 2009 has garnered support from global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities — including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.McDonald's Corp. plans to dim its arches at 500 locations around the Midwest. The Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont hotel chains and Coca-Cola Co. also plan to participate.Nearly 200 U.S. cities, towns and villages have signed on, from New York City — which will darken the iconic Empire State Building and Broadway marquees — to Igiugig, population 53 on Iliamna Lake in southwestern Alaska.Among the efforts in Chicago, 50,000 light bulbs at tourist hotspot Navy Pier will dim and 24 spotlights that shine on Sears Tower's twin spires will go dark."We're the most visible building in the city," said Angela Burnett, a Sears Tower property manager. "Turning off the lights for one hour on a Saturday night shows our commitment to sustainability." The Commonwealth Edison utility said electricity demand fell by 5 percent in Chicago and northern Illinois during last year's Earth Hour, reducing about 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. "It goes way beyond turning off the lights," said Roberts of the WWF. "The message we want people to take away is that it is within our power to solve this problem. People can take positive constructive actions."

I agree with the ice cream shop guy.. an bunch of BS.. Shutting off the light for a hour is hardly a sustainable message.. Shut it off for good or daily or longer or reduce the total light.. 1 hour in a year????

Originally Posted By: sdp

I agree with the ice cream shop guy.. an bunch of BS.. Shutting off the light for a hour is hardly a sustainable message.. Shut it off for good or daily or longer or reduce the total light.. 1 hour in a year????

I agree an hour is not much... but I guess it's a start in the right direction.

the hour it's self doesn't change anything. The point is rasing awareness.
David Suzuki points out that if everyone were to leave the car at home one day a week and/or not eat meat one day a week, it would make a significant difference. It won't halt our march to the edge of the cliff but we can start to slow it down.

Something is still better than nothing

"Something is still better than nothing"I don't know about that. If your gonna do it, do it. If your not then don't. There are to many half-assed attempts at shit in life. I think people tend to like to not really put the effort and sacrifice into things but they want to do just enough that as it's all falling down around them the can be free of guilt and say, "well I tried."People need to get passed this t-ball mentality of "doing their best" and grow up and realize that in most of life trying isn't enough. Either commit to it and follow through or don't. Trying doesn't work in a relationships, it doesn't work in a business, it doesn't work in a war, personally I can't think of anywhere trying counts for anything other than grade school sports.If you don't succeed you fail and all the trying in the world counts for naught.I always was an all or nothing kind of guy.

I know where you're coming from. Second place is just first loser, etc.The problem is that many people look at huge problems in life and see them as insurmountable and therefore decide to do aboluetly nothing.Can you fix the evironment? nopeCan you help? yup

Actually I wasn't talking about the environment as much as was life, I had already forgotten what the original post was about.However this environmental 1 hour thing is just what I'm talking about where I said, "people tend to like to not really put the effort and sacrifice into things but they want to do just enough that as it's all falling down around them the can be free of guilt and say, 'well I tried.'" I mean come on if your gonna go to this trouble why not make it an hour each week all year.I'll tell ya why not, people want to be able to say look I brought attention to it I did something, even if it was a lame ass publicity stunt, therefore I'm apart of the solution... "Oh,... I wish I could just give myself a big hug." All they while that haven't done anything that would really inconvenience them.I don't have much respect for bandwagoners that see failure as an expectable outcome as long as they feel good about themselves for the half-assed run they may take at any given problem.Is that enough hate yet for the day?

fuck noyou know I love the hate!so, if many people make a statement, small though it may be, the lame-ass politicians may actually review policy. After all, those dicks are SUPPOSED to listen to the peopledid the 1963 March on Washington change anything that day?

within the realms of safety, all municipal buildings are planning on going dark here

"so, if many people make a statement, small though it may be, the lame-ass politicians may actually review policy. After all, those dicks are SUPPOSED to listen to the people"My voice isn't quite high enough but I shall give the Edna Crubappal "Hah" a shot. So,.... Hah>>>"did the 1963 March on Washington change anything that day?"A march on Washington this ain't. It's a bullshit hollow gesture. Marching on Washington was a perfect example of people who went full ass on what they were trying to accomplish. They withstood the slings and arrows and kept going anyway till there message was heard. If your gonna compare this to the civil rights movement I think it would equate to Dr King taking out an add in the Penny Saver saying, "We don't want to be second class citizens anymore."

I wouldn't directly compare the environmental movement to the civil rights movement. I just used it as an example of a demonstartion.But, let's think on this for a minute then...The civil rights crisis in the states affected a few milion peopleThe environmental crisis affects every living organism on the planet.The march on washington was a statemrnt by thousandsEarth hour is a statement by millionsAnd I'm saying this while also believing that it's a feel-good hype game. But I still maintian that it represents a political statemnt that people care about these issues and people vote. Therefore, policy makers will be taking note.

Ahhhh, monkey nuggets.

Nobody is going to take it seriously as long as it is "feel-good hype." People can see through that shit. And I would go as far to say that all feel-good hype does is hurt the cause in the long run.

I took part in a 10 mile march (about 5-6000 people and students were part of it) to save one of my city's largest park where the politicians wanted to cut down nearly a 600 trees to make apartments and offices for themselves. It worked and the park has been saved.We did the same to save a large lake within our city from being filled by govt to build apartments/flats and also from being polluted by introduction of toxic chemicals being dumped into it from a nearby factory which killed thousands of fish living in the lake..........now the lake is an attraction with beautiful fish swimming in it.........well residents of the area have taken matters into their own hands, taking care of the lake, getting rid of weeds that grow, feeding the fish and keeping it clean.Sometimes small baby steps can make a difference. I think drastic measures have to be taken to make things right though.........esp to save the planet.Being a vegetarian now, from a meat eater......I ate nearly 500-750gm of meat or chicken every day........that means 1 whole chicken weighing 1000gm every 2 days or 1 whole sheep/goat weighing 50kg every 3 1/2 months (rough calculation)........alright how many lives have I saved by not eating meat or chicken since past 7 yrs or more?.......I may have saved a life or two but someone else is bound to eat what I didnt and I do know that.....but I am still taking a stand against the awful ways used to slaughter animals and the way they are transported, treated and kept when they are alive.......I dont wanna be a part of it.At least an hour every month sounds better than 1 hr a year but it would still help "few" people to understand the significance of somethings........esp about wasteful spending of energy resources.As far politicians are concerned.....well politicians will be politicians no matter what we say or do.......its rare to find a good guy among them......are there any good guys among them? I wonder I agree we all need to do something........no matter how small it may seem to some but its enough to make a statement........maybe even trigger a bigger change later on.