Earth Hour in California – Success or Bust?
Guest post by Russ Steele, NCWatch
At our house we set the timer to remind us to turn on all the visible out side lights. We have multiple security lights on the garage and the barn that come on when the sun goes down. My friend George Rebane has evidence that he turned on his lights for Earth Hour at Ruminations. I should have done the same, but was working on a sea level issue in R and forgot. I am glad I set the timer to remind me to turn off the outside house lights at 9:30.
The real question is did it Earth Hour make a difference one way or the other?
Roger Sowell had a good idea, he download the the graph below from www.caiso.com, the California Independent System Operator. CAISO is in charge of receiving power from power generating plants, and distributing the power throughout the state grid to the various end users.
Now compare the graph from Saturday 3/28/09 to the one on Sunday 3/29/09 shown below, note the similar slopes during the same time period. Note that annotations were added by Anthony Watts on both graphs.
Roger notes:
There was no apparent decrease in the power load throughout the state, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. No step changes, nothing, nada, zip, zilch.
There you have it, scientific data showing that the Earth Hour was a total bust in California. If you look close, you can see a little bump up above the forecast demand, which tracked very closely with actual power consumed prior to the witching hour 8:30 to 9:30. But, it is clear that power consumption did not drop, it stayed up. Maybe all those protesters forgot to turn off the lights.
There’s a “y” on that Name for the preceding entry — pls “modify” / correct it !
Just wanted to point out that you are incorrect on saying it was the same. The levels are completely different. At 9pm on Saturday it was at 26000 megawatts, on the same time Sunday it was at 27000 megawatts. The only way to tell if it worked is not to compare two separate days, but the previous Saturdays.
As Jeez (11:51:12) suggests, this is a product of indoctrination. Your assumption is flawed. Repeat after me:
EXCESS ENERGY USE IS NOT DETRIMENTAL, UNLESS YOU CAN’T AFFORD IT.
CHEAP, ABUNDANT ENERGY IS ESSENTIAL FOR CONTINUED GROWTH AND PROSPERITY, NOT ONLY FOR THE UNITED STATES, BUT FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD.
FOSSIL FUELS AND CO2 ARE GOOD FOR PLANTS, GOOD FOR THE EARTH, AND GOOD FOR YOU. AND THEY ARE CHEAP AND ABUNDANT.
So use as much as you can afford. Yes, we in the USA should stop using Islamist oil, but there is plenty of oil and other fuels (like natural gas) we can substitute for that.
Now you’ve been educated, not indoctrinated. Go forth and spread the true word.
/Mr Lynn
aheaton1:
I took a look at your blog. Apparently you own a rather nice dog. I’m sure you don’t mind that someone (probably several people) in the world are starving so that you can have your companion.
jeez..
im sure there are many people in the world that are so hungry that they would actually eat the food i feed my dog. however, im sure they would prefer the grain and fresh water that is wasted in excess to produce the live cattle(beef, pork, chicken etc) that im sure you eat and most likely in excess. so how again are they starving because of my dog? his food is vegitarian btw.. and yeah you can see how healthy he is in the video.
he’s very nice tho.. thank you 🙂
aheaton1 (14:03)
Food shortages are caused by economics, not by current lack of production. You have more money to buy the Calories for your dog than other less fortunate people. Those who eat meat have more money to buy Calories for meat production than the less fortunate. Thus, your spending money for Calories for your dog is raising the price of food for those less fortunate.
People who brag about their less impactful lifestyles tend to be hypocrites, and I have little patience for hypocrites. How far was that drive to the lake? Why do you have two cars? Are you using electricity from the grid? So your dog is vegetarian, how about you?
I’ll take you more seriously when you remove yourself from the grid and communicate exclusively through the Windernet.
I’ll stop now, because posters are not supposed to attack other posters on this site, but little gets under my skin faster than some upper middle class braggart professing their sustainable lifestyle.
You have to compare it to other Saturdays.
i guess you never understood what i meant when i said
“NO ONES SAYING YOU HAVE TO HAVE NO IMPACT AT ALL.. people with REAL educations tend to be a little less black-and-white than that.”
And in fact i repeated that once before. its funny how you use my hypocricy to fuel your argument when the point i made before clearly states im not perfect. yeah i live in laguna niguel, ca. parks are very abundant in the area i think there are 3 large ones within walking distance of my house and countless neighborhood parks.. not to mention the beach.. so i dont drive to go to parks for one.
THE WHOLE POINT and i will reiterate… yet again is to do what you can practically. AND BTW! food is in shortage due to drout and lack of production in places like india and china. in the US its caused by a various of reasons.. not dog food. i mean people can justify anything with talking about how angry someone or something makes them. although arguing that way only shows a lack of self control and a clear INDOCTRINATION of their own beliefs. change is going to happen wheather you like it to or not. sorry dude 🙁
Ditto. I’ve known folks with sustainable ‘lifestyles’, only they wouldn’t call them that, because they didn’t choose them. These people live what we call the ‘third world’; they grow their own food, make their own clothes, tote their own water and firewood. Now and then, if they have a little surplus, they trade it for a bit of cloth, or an iron knife or plowshare. They don’t have running water, or electricity, or cars, or even bicycles, and if they were available, they couldn’t afford them. Their only doctors are traditional shamans, who work feverishly to drive out evil spirits.
The secret of the success of the industrial world is surplus, surplus energy, mostly, that allows a few to do the work of many, e.g. in the USA, where 5% of the population feeds the rest, who spend their days in nice homes, going to comfortable jobs, and visiting blogs on the Internet—the very existence of which would be a mystery to those in the truly ‘sustainable’ world.
The more surplus we and others can generate, the faster the rest of the world will enjoy the ‘lifestyle’ we have come to take for granted. To brag about a ‘sustainable lifestyle’ when you are completely supported by armies of other people (in farming, industry, transportation, communications, etc., etc.) is the height of hypocrisy.
/Mr Lynn
oh btw i already said im vegan
aheaton1:
So…..
No, I said I’d stop. Back to the hospital for more stitches for my tongue.
John 11:44:16 wrote: “It’s like mocking someone for throwing their popcorn bag away in a movie theater. It’s better to mock those who contribute to the problem out of cynical antisocial self-interest, even better to educate rather than mock, and even better to lead by example.”
Anyone who does not follow your request becomes a “cynical antisocial self-interest” person. Interesting moral viewpoint…
“It’s very small, only symbolic, but it’s something, even if only an expression of how much some portion of the population care about our world. The real potential for positive change can come only through public policy, but that requires awareness and widespread support. Small steps like Earth Day are helping to bring about that support.”
It is a small portion BUT and this “but” always comes in at one point, and next is when Hansen says democracy doesn’t work… Hence, the small portion should influence the public policy and enforce the change. That’s really what this almost cute statement is all about. Earth Hour is a request until you’ll manage to make it law and become an injunction. This is the typical politeness of budding totalitarism so grandmas are not afraid… until they are thrown under the wheels.
“If you want to measure statistics, don’t measure energy usage, take polls of what percentage of the public is aware that excess energy use is detrimental, and would support public policy measures to reduce fossil fuel dependence and develop cleaner energy sources. Clearly, those statistics are gradually rising.”
If we want? I would expect you would appreciate to know if your lobbying is successful or not. And we too want to know the difference between your discourse and the reality. Really, listening to you, I am very surprised that the greens are not already representing 90% of the voters…
As for excess energy use being detrimental, we all pay our bills and are all aware how expensive energy is, thank you. Here in Canada, BC Hydro has even offered a two tier rate, soon multi tier so the “rich” can pay… Such discriminations of course are not permitted in the receiving end of the Health Care system but strangely acceptable on the front end…
Again you go on the public policies as if there was no connection between the public purse and those who fill it, the taxpayers who are incidentaly voters. This reminds me the far-left French Besancenot suggesting it is time to block the entire country so the democratic voice of people can be heard… Of course last time we checked in a free national election, Mr Besancenot only received about 5%… In what sense his 5% should dictate the lives of the 95% who did not elect him? Here, in what sense the un-elected greens should highjack the agenda? Because of the science of Global warming? well then think again because that one is not working. Because of some high moral ground? Well who says your moral is more valuable than mine? And we all witnessed during Revolutions that there are always some extremists who will declare your moral, John, is not good enough for them… and you thought you were a good citizen: beware of this unless you are prepared to stand proud along the Robespierre and other Fouquier-Tinville…
There was quite an article recently on Ontario’s wind power backstage? Do you really want to open that can of lobby worms? Because so far it shows how un-elected lobby group are funneling taxpayers money into wind power through people who are judge and parties…
As for the “clearly rising” we do have to take your word for it do we? Or are just the Globe and Mail cute little candle snap shots statistically significant? You may not like it, but in California, the MW are there to show how insignificant this event was despite an impressive media campaign.
Since you are prone to offer your statistics, you’ll kindly provide the source for the financing of this entire media blitz, every year so citizens who do not support this abuse of their dollars can lobby their elected officials to stop wasting their contribution from the public money. After all, this is their money, not yours.
And over at Catlin’s 2nd blog entry on the WWF’s hour they mention:
So their equipment designer thinks the ice could vanish soon. Has he designed equipment that can be used for 20 years, and can measure an increase in thickness?
I’m loving this new one: “CO2 emissions are good for plants!”
1) plants had plenty of CO2 for millions of years before we got here. They don’t need, and don’t benefit from, extra emissions.
2) this is a PR talking point dreamed up by the American Enterprise Institute. There is NO merit to it. Don’t believe me? Check out their site. Be careful if you like to spout this one, you’re being taken in by a lobby group’s PR campaign.
I’ll take a straight debate, hell, I welcome it. But listening to deniers rattle off these fake justifications for business-as-usual is like listening to a 5th grader make up reasons why he should be able to stay up late. You know it’s self-serving and fabricated.
If you want to cautious and skeptical, that’s fine, but try not to be a parrot repeating the lines that get fed to you.
Thunderbird writes “if you want to be cautious and skeptical…” because you do not want to be cautious and skeptical about AGW? Since you are about the benefit of extra CO2 you might learn about meteorology and climatology…
andrew: Your use of name-calling (“d-bag”) puts you in an extremely poor light here. Perhaps you can get away with it on the playground of whatever primary school you are from, but I’d be careful if I were you.
Congratulations on your so-called “green” lifestyle. Try not to hurt yourself patting yourself on the back, though, since bragging is actually a sign of insecurity, and of the need to be “better” than others. We’re actually all for energy conservation, but of course, that isn’t at all what EH was about, was it? It was, essentially, a thinly-veiled CAGW/CC propaganda tool, and a pretty pathetic and desperate one at that. After years of alarmist hype by the MSM, indoctrination in the schools, plus a Nobel-prize winning “movie”, not only are people still “not getting it”, but they are, in fact becoming more skeptical. People are waking up, and realizing they’ve been scammed, and that not only is warming not a problem and not caused by man, but we are, in fact cooling now.
Thunderbird (18:23:48) :
I’m loving this new one: “CO2 emissions are good for plants!”
New? What rock have you been living under? Greenhouses add C02, typically to the 1,000ppm level to optimize plant growth.
1) plants had plenty of CO2 for millions of years before we got here. They don’t need, and don’t benefit from, extra emissions.
You are half right. C02, in the past has been much, much higher, and plants thrived then. Your statement that plants don’t benefit from higher emissions is patently false. The word “need” is just a weasel word on your part, since it’s relative. They manage to do with lower C02 levels, but do better with the higher levels.
2) this is a PR talking point dreamed up by the American Enterprise Institute. There is NO merit to it. Don’t believe me? Check out their site. Be careful if you like to spout this one, you’re being taken in by a lobby group’s PR campaign.
You are the one spouting nonsense and AGW style rhetoric. It’s silly to claim that the idea that C02 is beneficial to plants is an AEI “talking point”, since it’s been known for years. Further, you bringing up AEI is simply a typical AGWer’s diversionary tactic. It isn’t necessary, or even smart for anyone to simply believe what a particular institute or site has to say about a subject.
I’ll take a straight debate, hell, I welcome it.
You seem to be parroting the AGW line pretty well, so I doubt that very much.
And, by the way, we’re climate realists. You people are actually the deniers – of reality. Your will to Believe, unfortunately, is stronger than your desire for the truth.
*Well you know this story had to show up somewhere —*
EARTH HOUR CANDLE BURNS TOWNHOUSE
A Mississauga, Ont. family who tried to light a candle for Earth Hour nearly burned down their townhouse.
Afshan Khalid, 46, said her eight-year-old daughter tried to light a candle before Earth Hour started at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The family was going to see friends and when getting ready, they lighted scented candles so they could see. While they were gone, Khalid’s son Omar, 19, came home at 9:30 p.m. with a friend, saw smoke and called 911.
Platoon Chief Paul Hunter of the Mississauga Fire Department said the fire caused an estimated $15,000 damage.
*But you didn’t know it would appear (in the Victoria [BC] Times Colonist directly next to this article–*
MARCH WEATHER LEAVING A COLD IMPRESSION ON VICTORIA
March is going out like a refrigerated lamb.
Temperatures were 1.8 degrees Celsius cooler than normal for the month, said David Jones of Environment Canada.
The normal maximum temperature for this time of year is 12 degrees and the minimum is 4, but most days seemed a lot cooler than that. Yesterday, Victoria reached 7.4 degrees.
But if you’re looking for relief in April, you’ll likely be disappointed.
“It looks like it’s not going to get much better,” Jones said.
“I don’t see warm, sunny dry weather for a week, anyway.”
He said temperatures will remain cool for the next 30 days, according to the computer models. “I think people are getting a little bit antsy about it, looking for a little relief from all this.”
Toronto dropped 15%. Chart found at http://www.blogto.com/environment/
North49 thank you for the link:
“The cynics took a (well-lit?) backseat tonight during Earth Hour as Torontonians blew past last year’s powered down mark on the way to a 15% reduction in electricity use. Just before 9:30 and the official end of Earth Hour the Big Board hit 2545 MW, a 450 MW drop from a typical Toronto Saturday night in late March. That’s the rough equivalent of turning off 750,000 60 watt light bulbs.”
1) what is a typical Toronto Saturday night in late March reference? Another average? How about comparing to the Friday night before?
2) 750,000 60 watt light bulbs may seem a huge number but is roughly the equivalent of two small 40 storeys office towers lights, obviously a rarity in Toronto…
It’s a late entry, but I thought this was rather funny … and typical of how easy it is to write numbers down … it comes from the catlin ice survey that I’m following with great interest …
Tori Taylor, the online communications lady, writes : With an estimated 50 million global participants in the WWF Earth Hour in 2008, this year is set to rise above last year’s figures, with one billion individuals projected to take part, as the amount of people showing interest in climate change and the need to make a stand increases.
that is a 20fold increase in 1 year, and thereby ressembles the meteoric rise of Google on the Nasdaq … if that rate of increase continues, we’ll have to contact a few other planetary systems for next year’s event …
From checking the CAISO site tonight at 11:00 p.m., there was no substantial difference in the power demand during the evening hours from 7:00 through 11, compared to Earth Hour Saturday. Both graphs show the same smooth curve with no dips. Earth Hour was indeed a bust.
http://sowellslawblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/busted-earth-hour.html
Earth hour is a frivolous experiment in futility and an exercise in exchanging one form of generating “greenhouse gasses” for another.
Read more : http://bikerbernie.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/earth-hour-turn-on-all-your-lights/
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