Millions of North Koreans will also be taking part.
Posted on 03/28/2008 6:41:49 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
TORONTO -- Millions of people across Canada and around the globe are expected to turn out their lights Saturday evening to raise awareness about pollution and global warming in an initiative known as Earth Hour.
The World Wildlife Fund effort that began in Sydney, Australia last March 29 now appears to have caught the imagination of people in dozens of countries, nowhere more so than in this country.
"This has really just blown up across Canada,'' said Tara Wood, spokeswoman for the fund in Canada.
"Canada is really going to be the shining star in this global effort.''
Initially, the fund's idea was to test the Canadian waters in one city -- Toronto -- to see how the effort should be rolled out in future years. That proved impossible.
"There was no way to control it once people got wind of this really cool lights-out event,'' Wood said.
"It's been truly phenomenal.''
What began as a simple attempt at bringing climate change down to the living-room level has snowballed, burying those who argue Earth Hour is mere tokenism that will do little to cut greenhouse gas emissions or that participating businesses are only interested in their cash registers.
More than 240,000 people and almost 18,000 businesses in countries as far-flung as Botswana, Vietnam and Denmark have all signed up as participants this year via a website groaning under the strain.
But the number of people marking the event that runs from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time is expected to be far higher.
About 55,000 Canadians have registered, just behind the United States and ahead of Australia. But 70 per cent of Canadians polled recently said they planned to mark the hour.
Municipalities from Charlottetown and Ottawa to Toronto and Vancouver, from Corner Brook, Nfld., and Melfort, Sask., to Lasalle, Que., and Terrace, B.C., are all recognizing Earth Hour.
In all, about 150 communities across Canada have signed on.
In Hanover, Ont., Zoe Soper, 18, who has challenged fellow students to participate, said she planned to pull the power breaker to her home.
"It's a pretty small thing to just get people to turn off their lights for an hour,'' Soper said. "Hopefully it will make people more aware of the issues surrounding energy waste.''
Cafe Koi in Calgary will attempt to operate without electricity for the entire evening.
Owner Philip Wong said a special menu is in the works that will include food that can be prepared beforehand or without electricity and served by candlelight.
"We'll try to operate as normally as possible,'' Wong said.
In Toronto, the lights will go out at City Hall and the focus will be on an acoustic concert outside featuring Nellie Furtado.
Ontario, which would usually use between 16,000 and 17,000 megawatts of power on Saturday evening, is forecasting a drop of about 800 megawatts -- almost five per cent -- during Earth Hour.
That's more than the dip that occurs during the moments of silence each Remembrance Day, said Terry Young, spokesman for the Independent Electricity System Operator in Ontario.
More important than just saving power for an hour, Wood said, is getting people to think about what they can do to help fight climate change -- whether it's by turning off lights, washing clothes in cold water or taking public transit.
"Turning off your lights doesn't have the huge energy savings with it, but what it does do is show how individual acts add up to make a big difference.''
Last year, about two million people and businesses in Sydney took part, pushing down demand for power in the city by 10 per cent -- the equivalent of turning off 50,000 cars for an hour, World Wildlife Fund said.
What time? I need to know so I can be sure to turn on everything during that hour.
since offsets are all the rage, I’ll offset this show by burning my lights..that makes all things equal, right?
I’ll be sure to have every electrical appliance in the place on, to counteract this nonsense. After all, we’re in the last stages of an interglacial. The longer we can keep the good times going the better.
NB I know that several prominent climatologists have pointed out that man’s CO2 contribution is not much more influential than spitting in the ocean. The above was simply in keeping with the deluded rhetoric.
8PM...power up!
Me too!!
Lights ON Against Environmentalist Wackos!!!!
Mike
LOL—I was going to say the same thing! And don’t forget those outdoor lights!
Can’t wait to see the coverage of this in the Main-Lining-Media...or are they going to go dark for an hour? And miss spots? I think NOT!!!!
Duplicitious dunces!
-—ditto—
They’ve lost their minds.
I think we’ll have an hour of checking to make sure all our outlets are working properly. You should do that now and then.
8pm to 9pm all time zone? Good because I am turning on every damn light and appliance I have.
It's called MREs, Phil
Kinda hard to "shine" when your lights are out, methinks.
I plan on having my flood lights on and open my blinds when I trun every light on in the house.
Well, at least they are doing it on a night when there really isnt anything on TV. If you really want to impress me, do it during American Idol.
Make sure you load em good with space heaters and hot plates so you can test your breakers at the same time......
Want to show true solidarity? Keep the lights off.
Doing it for a brief period is like holding your breath to stop CO2 rise.
As for lighting candles, duh! They are nowhere near the efficiency of a light bulb.
I take it the acoustic concert outside at 8 will be done in the dark with no sound system? Hope it’s free!
I think I’ll get the Christmas lights out from storage and set the house ABLAZE with lights on Saturday!!!
Millions of North Koreans will also be taking part.
“Hands Across America”
I think these millions are already operating with their lights out.
I'm going to put up an outdoor display to show how I feel about Global Warmism:
And no matter how hot the WOOD burning fireplace.
Hallelujah, the earth is saved!
Sounds like a good time for some arc welding in the barn to me.
... and will stick their collective heads in the sand during that time ...
I hope someone steals their Prius’s while the lights are out.
March 29.
I wonder how fast I can make the electric meter spin.
If they were really serious, they’d turn off their heat.
I see the liberal media planned this stunt before they broadcast their nightly news.
No power used there, nope, none. It’s just in time to spew how awesome their little tactic was successful. Keep pushing the string liberal idiots.
Wanna bet 95% of them go to their Computer to browse and check on whether they are having an “impact” to electricity usage!
Sounds like a good time to make some more deer jerky. That dehydrator is 500 watts! Once that’s running it’ll be out to the garage to fire up the surface planner and table saw to get some more work done on the cedar chest for the wife.
I looked over DU (Yeah, I know, shower time!).
They all plan on switching over to battery power during that hour. Some people just make me shake my head. LOL
We had 30 degree temps, snow and sleet along with strong winds here in NW IL yesterday. The extended forcast calls for much cooler than normal temps well into April.
I hereby extend a single digit to all you global warmers out there.
When they first came out we dubbed them "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians"
Like, basically, dude, we’re trying to, like, show everyone, that we’re in the dark, and not because of other people but because of our own, you know, beliefs and actions. And that we’re all in the dark, like, together and stuff. And you could be in the dark too, if you join our movement.
“Yaaaaayyy!!! We’re Earth Hour people, we embrace really meaningful stuff because it makes us feeeeeeeel soooo goooood! And, we’re going to prove we know what’s best by showing everyone we really are in the dark.”
LOL!!! You posted, word for word, my exact first thought! I guess great minds really do think alike.
How much extra power do those servers require to handle the strain?
The lights are on, but nobody's home.
Aw, you not only match my sentiment, but you beat me to it and stated it better. Kudos to you.
Is it april 1st already?
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