Earth hour 2009

8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009.

Vote earth by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

www.earthhour.org...

Are you joining?

I sure am, I mean why not?

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

I'm playing tonight the only thing the band & I will be turning off is thoughts about this past week at work, we shall however lift a Heiniken in a toast to the Earth.

[edit on 28-3-2009 by smokehouseslim]

No I will not be joining. The thought of deliberately putting myself into the dark is slightly disturbing regardless of the suggested reasons for doing so.

At best it is a stunt at worst an in-joke among the 'Powers That Be'!

I'll be doing it.

I think arguments such as 'hey, asshats, global warming isn't man-made' are irrelevant. It doesn't matter who or what is the cause, we need to learn to adapt better to real changes in the environment. One of the way that we can do so is by becoming less reliant on the energy sources we have at the moment and less wasteful in general.

We really don't need to use the resources we actually use in the way that we do. The vast majority of people on this forum have grown up as part of a couple of generations (generally) enamoured with the idea of disposability and waste as well as a general 'who cares?' attitude. We use too much of everything, simply because we have this idea that 'we can'. Well, it's getting to the point where we actually can't.

We bury too much crap in the earth through unnecessary waste and we take too much from the earth because of unnecessary waste and, in doing so, we # it up for everything else that's unfortunate enough to be sharing a planet with us.

Yes, perhaps Earth Hour is a token gesture, perhaps on its own, it doesn't achieve much. However, it's a start. It's a small step in the right direction.

I will certainly not be joining!

The idea of living in darkness, because of some crackpot theory that CO2 is causing global warming is absurd and more than a little bit frightening.

I realize this is a symbolic gesture, but it is an opressive and ominous one in my opinion.

I'm sure there are many people who would be more than happy to have the world population living under more medieval conditions.
The CO2 scam is an ingenious way of pushing this agenda.

I say let there be light! (and love )

[edit on 28-3-2009 by MrVertigo]

reply to post by hardworx


Afraid of the dark..?

Anyway, I cant see why some people are so negative..

This is just a way to show that we stand togheter, and care for mother earth. I think its great that people all over the world can come togheter and take a stand.

Togheter we are powerful!

I turned on all my lights.
people in the dark can't see the global warming scam until you shine a light for them.

To all the "anti global warming pepole".

I am not saying that man is responible for everything, but you sertanly cant argue that we contribute alot?

You are saying we should just continue polluting this world?

I just don`t understand the negativity..

To honor Earth Day, I'll do my part. . . . . . and turn every light I have on.
Go Earth!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!

Is it a myth that it takes more energy to turn on a light than to keep it burning? And what will the impact to the power grid be should we all sit in the dark then power on at once?

Personally I think it would be a better gesture towards saving mother earth if we just skipped a meal, dropped a few pounds or went outside and played all day by having picnics, tossing a Frisbee or what have you.

Seems to me that folks should stop driving for 1 hour instead of shutting the lights off. More CO2 goes in the air from the cars then from a light bulb. What is the sense in shutting the lights off?

Lets all pray this was not Obamas idea otherwise he is really stupid.

[edit on 28-3-2009 by pmbhuntress]

reply to post by pmbhuntress


This was not Obamas idea.

WWF took the initiative for this.

This is not so much about saving energy. It is more a massive, global and overwhelming signal to our nations' leaders to say that climate change is important. That it matters a great deal. That we care. Now do something about it!

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

Originally posted by pmbhuntress
Lets all pray this was not Obamas idea otherwise he is really stupid.

[edit on 28-3-2009 by pmbhuntress]

Why should an international initiative that started in Australia in 2007 be anything to do with Obama?

I mean other than you imagining everything starts and stops with America?

Originally posted by Anom3
reply to post by pmbhuntress

 

This was not Obamas idea.

WWF took the initiative for this.

This is not so much about saving energy. It is more a massive, global and overwhelming signal to our nations' leaders to say that climate change is important. That it matters a great deal. That we care. Now do something about it!

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

WWF was stupid then. But if they want to really make a difference then they need to shut down all the cars for 1 hour and all the mills, and all the boats, planes, millitary, ect. Thats the only way to really help mother earth.

I bet 10 to 1 that alot of the CO2 going into the air and tons of other junk is coming from all the explosions we hear daily at the millitary bases. Maybe if they would stop blowing some crap up that would help to.

Originally posted by Anom3
To all the "anti global warming pepole".

I am not saying that man is responible for everything, but you sertanly cant argue that we contribute alot?

You are saying we should just continue polluting this world?

I just don`t understand the negativity..

the problem I have is that somehow CO2 has become synonymous with pollution and climate has become synonymous with environment.

Even IF (and that's a pretty big if) man made CO2 has been responsible for the warming trend we have observed, it is still a natural gas, one of the more abundant ones in our atmosphere. Therefore it is easily assimilated into the ecosystem, even if there is an abnormal amount of it.
Chemical & nuclear waste, however are entirely different matters and should be treated as such.

reply to post by MrVertigo


I have never said that pollution means only CO2.

By pollution I mean all the ways we humans slowly destroy this earth.
Overconsumption, toxic waste, water pollution, produsing huge amounts of garbage, deforestation and so on..


[edit on 28-3-2009 by Anom3]

Hey, thanks for the reminder. I'm going to go post a sticky on the fridge to remind myself before I forget again.

I might just go out for a walk during that hour. I will try not to get too depressed over how many people don't know or don't care.



It is important to stand up for things that are positive and constructive - and this is one of those things.

Originally posted by pmbhuntress
WWF was stupid then.

Yes, because obviously it's really stupid to stop and think about how much resources you use and how much waste you create and take some steps towards reducing both these things.

I'm hoping that sometime in the future, our reliance on fossil fuels can be broken with the use of more green energy as well as burning the bodies of the selfish and inconsiderate.

Sorry, but I call 'em like I see 'em. Typical feel-good useless tactics.

Firstly, what about your heat? Cooling? Water heater? Computer? TV? Why not turn these off too? No, no, that would be too much trouble; light switches are easy.

Secondly, how is this going to make any difference? The average home in the US uses dual-phase 240V power, fused for a maximum draw of 200 amps (48 kW), and typically uses an average of about 5 kW. A 100 watt bulb uses 100 watts, or 0.1 kW. So turn off 50 of those 100 watt bulbs and you have have just done something. Of course, if you use 60 watt bulbs like me, then it would take almost twice that many.

Thirdly, residential power use is practically insignificant compared to commercial/industrial use. So let's see if we can get some factories to shut down for an hour. Of course, that means everyone will be unemployed for that hour; you might get some people arguing over that. Or maybe there will be a couple less goodies on the store shelves next week, so I guess we can't take that chance.

Oh, yes, how about those people (like me) who get their power from hydro-electric plants (no burning = no CO2)? Am I supposed to save this power as well? Oh, that's right, it's a symbolic showing, not an actual attempt to do anything.

Here's a crazy idea: let the light bulbs burn and plant a tree while you can see! That tree will suck more CO2 out of the air during it's lifetime than your whole house produces. Plus, it will turn that CO2 into fruit or nuts you can eat, provide a shade for you to sit under on hot days (meaning running the air conditioner less), and provide a home for a few birds or squirrels if you're lucky.

Let's try for once to do something that actually matters instead of something that makes us feel good, shall we?

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck


Hey Redneck these things are not mutually exclusive. Go ahead and do all the things you recommend on top of turning out the lights.

What does the lights out thing mean? It indicates that there are people in every part of the globe, who are on track on this issue. It is therefore an important issue that power brokers (pun intended) need to address.

On the other hand it might just prove that there are far more people all over the world that just don't give a damn.

Which symbol are you going to highlight?