Earth Hour, Chicago
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008On Saturday, March 29th, at 8:00pm, Chicago will turn out the lights and participate in Earth Hour. For one whole hour, residents, communities, and business owners are encouraged to turn out all non-essential lights to show support and commitment toward taking action to combat climate change. From the official Earth Hour website (the site takes quite a while to load):
On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.
In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.
Chicago is proud to be the U.S. flagship city for Earth Hour. The city will not be the same without the bright lights of the skyline but I imagine it will be eerily beautiful. Sure, the lights will be out and energy will be conserved for only one hour but it is a step in the right direction. Climate change (or global warming, whatever you want to call it) is an unfortunate reality, and it is not something that was fabricated by a certain political party (before that argument even starts). The 160-square-mile ice shelf that is breaking away from the western coast of Antarctica should be evidence enough.
Posted by Francesca
