Earth Hour hopes to shed light on climate
So are the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza and many other iconic structures.
The lights will be going out for Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund to draw attention to global warming, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday local time around the world. That’s when organizers of the event, which began in Sydney in 2007, want everyone to turn off non-essential lights.
About 2,800 cities in 83 countries — including 250 in the United States — had signed up, according to Dan Forman, a spokesman for World Wildlife Fund, an international conservation organization that boasts 1.2 million national members and close to 5 million globally.
Forman said organizers want to send a message to Congress and to global leaders working this year on climate change legislation and a treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
“It’s all about the symbolism,” he said. “We fully recognize that one hour does not put a dent in the climate crisis.”
The effort has its critics.
“We think Earth Hour, even if you are super-concerned about global warming, is a little lame, and we are making fun of it,” said Eli Lehrer, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a Washington, D.C., think tank that supports limited government and decries global warming “alarmism.”
CEI has announced a “Human Achievement Hour” to counter Earth Hour. The group says millions of people will participate by turning the lights on, going to a concert or seeing a movie. “It’s obviously tongue-in-cheek,” Lehrer said.
Many companies, however, are serious in support of Earth Hour, Forman said. Coca-Cola, for example, has pledged to turn off its big signs around the world, including a marquee in New York’s Times Square.
Schools and universities across the country are also participating, including the University of Louisville.
“We are trying to change the cultural attitudes and behavior,” said professor Barbara Burns, chairwoman of the university’s Sustainability Council. “And one of the first steps is awareness.”
Now what would be really good to see would be if these climate alarmists could have the courage of their convictions and not produce any CO2 for the whole hour. See if they can go for the whole hour without breathing out!
I would pay good money to see that on TV!
The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world.
I think its a great exercise to get folks used to the day when “the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine” and the dummies are relying on windmills and solar panels for their energy needs. We’ll all be wandering about the woods looking for something to take home and burn on a “three dog night”, in the tradition of our ancestors.
What am I going to do for Earth Hour? As I am not going to allow the New Scientist hijackers and their ilk to influence my thinking, I am not going to do anything (without their intent or influence!). In fact, as I am a human with all the frailties of that species, I am going to be intentionall vindictive (or natural) and change over all of my light bulbs from 60 watts to 150 watts, and then repair to bed with both a clear conscience and the lights burning away until I arise (and I intend to have a long long long lie in in the morning!)
Me? Not a thing different from my usual routine.
I do like the idea of “Celebrate Humankind’s Achievements” hour, though.
Also, I believe that the same people who signed the petition to ban dihydrogenmonoxide would probably both turn off their lights for earth hour and turn on their lights for “achievement” hour. Don’tcha t’ink?
You might like to see this: http://blog.aynrandcenter.org/earth-hour-and-atlas-shrugged/
Mr FatBigot. I am so happy to know that there is fleur de coin such as yee and I left in this pathetic world to fight the good fight! Bring back the public square burnings!
I’ll be working on building big transformers. Perhaps some testing to see if they can handle a few hundred MegaWattsUps.
=o)
As you can see I am still smarting from that argument about CME ending the world as we know it…
PS. That should have been ‘me’! I am girding up for the final battle against the opposition (I am a Biotechnologist) by repairing to my lab whereby I continue to work on my pet hobby of attempting to raise the average IQ from that of the early Cro-Magnon (Have hope folks, I am very very close! It is all to do with activation and silencing of genes!).
Dont forget that alarms soak up loads of power – please turn them off.
Next year – please think of our community and make the switch-off last for at least three hours!
I posted this on another thread which sparked some debate. I am reposting it here together with some of the comments, as this thread which has a political and idealistic strand seems more appropriate than a scientific thread to highlight what appears to be happening and of which Earth Hour is just of the stunts to ensure the IPCC/UN agenda becomes mainstream
I said
Crosspatch 06 55 08
has posted probably one of the most significant links ever to appear in this Blog. I followed it through to the UN paper which-if true-is dynamite and IMHO warrants a thread by itself so as not to hijack this one.
Here is the link right through to the UN Discussion document
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/032709_informationnote.pdf
it is indeed a UN document to reorder the world
Whilst everyone should scrutinise each line in order to see the agenda behind the IPCC (they couldn’t seriously believe all their models could they?) some of the highlights are
Page 6 item 17
page 8 item 25 and 27
page 9 item 34
page 10 item 37
page 14 item 60
Conclusions on p15
This is the ad hoc working group composition and its aims, that have fed into the UN report above.
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2008/awg6/eng/08.pdf
These are the key chairs
Harald Dovland Norway –chair minister for environment http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-180526631.html
Mam Konate of Mali Vice chair http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop11/enbots/enbots1704e.html
Chan Woo-Kim Republic of korea http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:py3_vPi45-wJ:www.unescap.org/esd/environment/mced/singg/documents/Programme_SINGG_Final.pdf+chan-woo+kim+republic+of+korea&cd=18&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
Ms Christiana Figueres Costa Rica http://figueresonline.com/
Nuno Lacasta Portugal http://www.wcl.american.edu/environment/lacasta.cfm
Brian Smith New Zealand (also a Bryan Smith-same person?
Marcelo Rocha Brazil http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50347.pdf
Talking about carbon markets and here
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12378e.html
Smokey commented;
After reading the relevant passages you posted, I have a few comments:
The UN climate proposals are more stringent than the changes imposed on the defeated nations following WWII, and they are aimed directly at the U.S. and the West. They are hostile, and they are based on fraudulent science as a means to an end.
Following the end of WWII the Soviets expropriated not only massive amounts of industrial equipment from Germany, but also tens of thousands of highly educated engineers and scientists, and made them slaves of the Russian state. Almost none of those individuals were ever released or repatriated. The immediate result was the detonation of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb, less than one year after the war ended. Russia’s first hydrogen bomb test occurred only a matter of months after the first U.S. test.
[The West, despite what is portrayed in history books, took similar actions. For example, the giant cranes and gantrys lining Long Beach harbor were dismantled in Germany at the end of the war and moved to California; taken with no compensation as the spoils of war.]
The UN now demands nothing less than the complete surrender of the West to its version of world socialism, with the UN as world dictator. The spoils of this undeclared war are in the posted documents; industry will be forcibly relocated to other countries, with no compensation. Taxes will be raised as high as necessary to enable this theft — all in the name of “combating climate change.”
It is all there in the UN documents. IMHO, simply evicting the UN from the host country is completely inadequate. The UN is the enemy. They are extremely hostile, and must be destroyed. It is quite clearly them or us.
It should be pointed out that the latest move in this concerted effort is toward a single world currency. Why? Because along with a world monetary system, there must also be a world police force to prosecute financial crimes, and a world court to adjudicate financial crimes. Note that financial “crimes” were high on the list of Soviet offenses committed by the kulaks [the Russian middle class, which was forcibly exterminated].
Climate alarmism is just part and parcel of the deliberate move toward a dictatorial world government. It is simply a means to an end, as is the demand for a world currency. And in the approaching world government, there will be zero sympathy for Western values, because those involved in the UN agenda do not possess Western values.
I desperately want to be wrong about this.
But I am not wrong. Look, and you will see it happening.
Aron said
You forgot Agenda 21.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/index.htm
“Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.”
Note how they have planned to act on such a vast level without asking any population for approval. Aren’t agendas and manifestos supposed to be presented by representative politicians to a voting public instead of being crafted by faceless unelected bureaucrats who make the decisions for everyone
Thanks to those who have taken the time to read this. Those of us who did not believe the science always matched the reality will recognise that it is the politics that are now to the fore and the science is a façade.
I have always been very reluctant to accept the IPCC/UN had an agenda, but this document clearly describes the world order they seek to put in place through scaring everyone with tales of catastrophic climate change.
“H.L.Mencken wrote:The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
Please could other people read this important document and comment.
TonyB
Here in Europe, one is anxious that power plants could not react to a total loss of demand on the grid at 8:30 PM local time. If the success would be overwhelming, the whole European net could black out! Automatic switches would shut down power plants, which would require many hours to come back on line.
The most delicate moment would be at 9:30 PM local time when all participants will turn on their lights again. Then, the production of electricity would be not at all in line with the sudden increase in demand of electricity.
Will the WWF-action trigger a total black out in the European net? That’s the question.
I’ve got a lot of tree cuttings, I think I’ll make a bonfire.
Oh, and no “Guy Fawkes” effigy on top, I’ll make a “Gore Fawkes” instead!
Fatbigot says it all. And in the UK the gesture SHOULD be being used to draw attention to the UK government’s cavalier attitude to our energy needs. Unless we have a programme of nuclear and clean coal generators running in 15 years our lights will go out, but not out of choice!!
Porch Lights against tyranny.
I make sure my porch light is turn on as a symbol of my resistance to socialist tyranny and eco-fascism.
Pass it on.
“We are trying to change the cultural attitudes and behavior,” said professor Barbara Burns.
BURNS: Simpson! get those fuel rods out of that reactor now!
HOMER: Righto Chief! CLAAAANGG Doh!
“it was not the same as seeing that clean white line across the sky. He’d forgotten how beautiful that could be.
Tim waved solemnly at the plane. “you can fly,” he said. His voice rose “you can fly. But we control the lightning.”
from Lucifer’s Hammer, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The folks who controlled the lightning in the story were the ones who saved the nuclear power plant from the forces of ignorance and darkness.
Fight for the Light!
Isn’t it amazing how electric companies, who tell us to save money by conserving, can go to the utility boards and demand a rate increase because they are selling less electricity.
Here in central, Ohio our electric rates are projected increase by 30% over the next 3 years without the CO2 cap and trade.
I think the readers are completely missing the point. You should be planning on cutting the power to the big cities (where the liberal majorities lurk).
My favorite part is when the looters take over after a couple of days. I guess the point where everyone runs out of food after a week or so is also fairly satisfying.
This is so stupid what they are doing.
It really looks like a form of religion…
I wonder how many sheep are going to turn their lights out.
Earth Hour has just finished here in New Zealand. I happened to be driving back from somewhere at 9pm and noticed very few houses with lights off, in fact it looked exactly like it does every Saturday night.
The Sky Tower had its floodlights off, but most businesses in my area had their lights on as usual, including offices, retail stores, bill-boards and the like. I counted about 1 in 5 or 6 houses to be dark, but that’s not very unusual, especially as many people are out on a Saturday night.
No doubt though the TV news will be trumpeting how all New Zealanders have joined the billion people around the globe making a stand against climate change.
I drove up and down our little street, and I was interested to note that 100% of the houses had their lights blazing as usual, including the bloke across the road who works for the Department of Conservation.
TonyB, thanks, I noticed that article too, could you shorten your post to put the point across succinctly but with necessary refs?
I say, not Earth First, but Truth First. Then we can discern the true place of Earth. So I shall be keeping a “Truth Hour”. Evidence for this will be between me and the Spirit of Truth, which is also apparent in real science.
Turned on my one Energy saver bulb early this morning – it failed! Is this a portent? It has lasted barely six months of infrequent use………..
Fitba. Holland v Scotland in Amsterdan. Kick off 19:45. Turn the lights aff for the second hauf? At’ll be right, pal.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7966837.stm
Tony,
I just don’t see a conspiracy. When I read UN documents I see a form of high minded idealism mixed with true ignorance. I see the same kind of risk taking that resulted in the sub-prime fiasco. In other words, they don’t know what the f— they are doing.
Many in the UN and our national governments genuinely believing in catastrophic global warming because they don’t have time to learn better and it has become a cash cow for those who have the ear of government. If information comes along that says global warming is exaggerated and there is nothing to worry about, who listens? The silent majority do! But the noisy minority, the activists and journalists, use every form of suppression they can. So government stays silent because they don’t want the hassle that comes from that noisy fanatical minority.
Most UN officials have no scientific learning at all so they’ll believe whatever the likes of Hansen et al say and pay lip service to the media. It’s a mutual sycophantic relationship in which everyone comes out looking saintly to the public.
If there is anything resembling conspiracy, just look at the G20 protests. There will be environmentalists and anti-capitalists (just about all of them young white upper middle-class kids who dream of power) protesting. About what? Our governments ARE acting like communists and in the interests of green ideology so what is the protest about? If anything, activists are going there because they are paid to by powerful lobby groups, organisations and businessmen who have government connections and stand to be rewarded with fat contracts to build wind farms, etc.
I feel sorry for the police who have to stand in between the protestors and politicians when both of those sides are working for the same interests. The cops are our working class heroes and they get shit on by shitheads for protecting other shitheads. If the police were removed from the protests it is guaranteed all that will happen is some broken windows. Activists will not seek trouble with politicians who are doing their dirty work.