UPDATE: Somebody in Toronto is going to really aggravate the greens, see below.
Or more importantly, what will the United Nations do? The American Thinker points out the hypocrisy of the UN with the photo below. Does anyone live in NYC who can snap a photo tomorrow night to see if they follow “Earth Hour?
It is now midnight GMT March 26th, (5PM EST, March 25th in USA) Earth Hour is Saturday, and still is coming up at the time of this writing at 8:30-9:30PM Saturday March 26th in the USA time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii. It will of course happen in that 8:30-9:30PM local time in each timezone on Earth.
I’m interested in finding out what your plans are. What will or did you do? The poll is for entertainment purposes only, and is not scientific.
Choose your answer below:
Also, for a perspective that I embrace, I offer again Dr. Ross McKitrick’s essay on Earth Hour:
Earth Hour: a dissent
UPDATE: This just in from the Toronto Sun
“We will not be in the dark,” journalist and conservative commentator David Menzies said Thursday.
Instead, what you will find is a giant beacon in the sky emanating from his Richmond Hill street between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.
“While everybody else has their lights off I will have every light in my house on,” said Menzies, as he prepared for his second installment in mocking the “phony” Earth Hour movement.
He’s also gone a step further.
“I have rented four rotating Hollywood movie lights which will light up the sky for miles,” he said.
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Commeth the hour commeth some good programmes on TV – so I completely forgot about the Earth Hour – I had considered switching ON all my lights (but forgot about that too).
Still – I did watch the TV in HD with the Dolby 5.1 – so might just about have managed to increase my useage a little.
I should be able to see Menzies’ lights from my window. I’ll be looking for them around 8:30pm. ;^)
MrC
Sonofmulder 2.24pm
Grumpy old bugger. At least we won the boat race.
It’s going to be VERY cold for a barbeque tonight in Toronto – forecast low of -12 C. While I’d love to follow the searchlights to David Menzies’ house and offer him my support (and do a little noshing on the side) I think I will instead nestle down in my warm home, with the electric fire on full blast, and read WUWT, with every light on in the house. I must do my bit to warm up this outrageously cold climate- even if the only possible effect is inside or to the local UHI!
Rattus Norvegicus says:
March 25, 2011 at 8:50 pm
I understand that the classic Porche, gutted and fixed with an electric motor and batteries, is ideal, and even has acceleration comparable to the original. As batteries get lighter, it will get better. Not sure who sells the kit, but that is why Google are there.
You’ll miss the 2 minutes at the pump filling up, however, but then you could put the 1o hours recharge time to good use!
“David S says:
March 26, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Sonofmulder 2.24pm
Grumpy old bugger. At least we won the boat race.”
Probably only because Cambridge switched off in solidarity with Earth Day, as did the England cricket team. There you go, proof that Global warming causes global sporting disruption.
From Rattus Norvegicus on March 25, 2011 at 8:50 pm:
*bzzzt* INCORRECT!
E85 is “up to” 85% denatured ethanol by volume.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85
Thus it’s good moonshine that’s been poisoned, denatured, with a toxic chemical like benzene, then further adulterated with 15% or more of real gasoline, to make a less-effective pretend substitute for real gasoline, that’s far worse than even the common E10. Yuck.
=====
Oh look, it’s almost “Safety test of every light in the house” hour! Anyone know where PPL (Pennsylvania) keeps their fine-detailed usage charts?
BTW, does the UN realize they’ve created an excellent nighttime target for a 9/11-type incident?
“…all other city buildings are essentially dark at 6 a.m… Only the U.N. Secretariat building is fully lit throughout the night.”
Rents are pretty pricey in Manhattan… I suspect some of the poorer country U.N. Representatives are living in the building with family in tow to save that extra per diem. It’s also “green” to be living close to work.
The lights are probably the older incandescent bulbs used to warm the rooms when the main automatic thermostat turns the heat down during “after hours” when it’s supposed to be empty. Baby chicks like heat from incandescent bulbs too… maybe there’s some of them in there as well… do I smell methane gas ?
I’ve met and seen some of these individuals in action… I call it “selfish hypocrisy”.
Un-fund the U.N.. The sooner the better. O.K. U.N., it’s “Lights Out !!” for you !
Try a “dry run” tonight !
Richard Day says:
March 26, 2011 at 9:56 am
And in your face former Mayor Nitwit, I mean Miller – the clown who would jet off to every climate conference and sheepishly accept the moronic daily fossil award on “behalf” of Canada. What a mayor was doing WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY at these stupid things is nothing more than theft.
————-
Agree completely! Hopefully the coming federal election will boot out a few more of his ilk at the federal level – we need more adults running the country, not fairy-tale endorsing boy-scouts.
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Bravo for David Menzies! One of our favourite TV personalities.
Our house street-transformer is supposed to allow us 18.5 kw. Tonight we’ll let the wood-stove go out, and turn on the electric heat full blast. The lights, being those lethal mercury coiled fluorescent types, and the LEDs, won’t help much; they’ll just add a satisfying sort of luminescent glory in this “green” hole neighbourhood — like in Canadjan NDP-green. However, the electric heat and stove and large TV and clothes dryer should do the trick. A few more kw from 3 idling vehicles will add to the mood.
Tonight we celebrate another year of successful, thrifty efficiency; we have saved several thousand dollars, so why not celebrate with a kilowatts-hour party.
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As last year, and the year before, I offer the California electric grid website.
http://caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html
This chart is updated around midnight so it will only show for a few more hours (5 and one-half, roughly) what happened on Saturday March 26. Human Achievement Hour (Earth hour) starts, if one looks at the bottom-right of the chart, midway between 20 and 21 hours (8 and 9 pm) and ends midway between 21 and 22 hours (9 and 10 p.m.).
For the past two years, there was zero discernible difference in the smoothly declining power demand during that time. I expect the same thing this year.
Turned ON all the lights (but not appliances—they don’t make much of a display), opened the shades and blinds, and watched Herman Cain and John Bolton in Iowa on C-Span (our real public broadcasting system!).
Enjoyable and rewarding hour.
/Mr Lynn
Did the laundry that I usually do Sun mornings. Still drying it now. This Earth Hour bit requires a bit more work on my part but worth it. I did concvince some friends that tuning their lights off would crash the grid so they stopped doing that.
Well my mud hour observance has begun. It takes me 3 hours to complete as I power down from 7:30 to 8:30, power up again during the mud hour, then power down again for 1 hour.
Can’t wait for this years statistics ,last year in my city was 1.2 % power reduction compared to the before and after hour. Hope to get it lower this year.
I am composing this message off the grid, my smartphone, though have to keep power on my wireless router.
I totally forgot to do anything. I noticed exactly no sign that anyone else around here did anything, and unlike the first year and last year the news hasn’t mentioned it. I must say I’m confused by the people here who did do something for it, I don’t understand what difference you think it will make to anything.
It has been below freezing all day here in Grouse Hollow, Eastman Village, Grantham, NH. Tink Fitzhew was visiting, sitting by the fire…. I’ll write it all up for a story here.
‘Invested’ a year ago in a rebuilt 1983 Mercedes *300TD (the ‘touring’ wagon with self-leveling rear suspension) possessing mechanical fuel injection system capable of burning diesel *and* waste veggie oil (WVO) without modification, *and* without the need for transesterification of the WVO into a ‘biodiesel’ form, instead, just running straight vegetable oil when temperatures allow, and in Texas, that means beginning now … friend has been at this for a few years and has worked out the an easy system for filtering the WVO into a form that can be used as WVO fuel directly into the ‘gas’ tank … so really, I don’t care what the EPA mandates at this point …
About E10 (10% alcohol as currently mandated) onwards to E15, be advised, that those ratios may or may not actually be present in the fuel you just topped off with … it may be several points either way depending on the ‘blending’, and the ‘splash’ mixing process used as the fuel is transported to the retailer in the delivery truck, and, with this process sometimes this can result in a higher percentage of alcohol at the retail dispensing point (the gas pump) …
E10 Blending issues – http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&hs=hT2&rls=en&channel=suggest&q=E10+blending+issues&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
* 300TD W123 chassis – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W123
.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/earth-hour-fans-disappointed-to-see-so-many-lights-still-on/article1958336/
The Globe and Mail is forced to acknowledge this brainwashing has failed.
do googers running amok
do gooders running amok, jeez I hate it when that happens.
“Luther Wu says:
March 26, 2011 at 4:45 am”
Typically, in Australia, the MSM are all over Earth Hour like a rash. Apparently, power consumption in the Sydney CBD dropped ~15%. No figures put against how many CO2’s were saved this year. Shame the generators were still running through the farce. As someone else posted, its all about symbolism. Well here’s a symbol for these types …oloo…
I missed it, but so did everyone else in my area, apparently.
There was no mention of it on BBC or ITV news around the time it took place either.
I did turn the heating up a notch in protest, but no one noticed.
Ö¿Ö
Just to put it out there, I was at a bucks party, we had no idea it was Earth Hour, and we had an open fire which was producing a lot of smoke.
Awww…..
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/earth-hour-fans-disappointed-to-see-so-many-lights-still-on/article1958336/
so no piccie then, anyone?