Turn Out the Lights for Earth Hour!
Tue, March 17, 2009 4:39pm
On March 28 at 8:30 pm, lights across Portland's skyline--the Made in Oregon sign, the Oregon Convention Center spires, and the external lights on the Rose Garden--will go dark for an hour. Elsewhere in the city, from the Purdy painting tools headquarters in North Portland, to Mayor Sam Adams' home, the lights are also going out.
It's all in honor of Earth Hour, an international event that started in Australia just two years ago, to draw attention to global climate change and to show what individuals can do to reduce carbon emissions.
Last year, according to Earth Hour organizers, 50 million people in more than 35 countries worldwide turned off their non-essential lights for the hour (safety related lights, like streetlights, stay on). Check out this video to see what Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Toronto look like with a darkened skyline:
This year Portland will join 1,539 cities and towns in 80 countries--as of today--in encouraging its citizens to switch off all non-essential lighting during Earth Hour. The city council will consider a resolution tomorrow to "endorse efforts... through Earth Hour to raise awareness around global climate change and energy efficiency." At the end of this post, check out links to energy efficiency information, and watch for the city's forthcoming Climate Action Strategy, our plan for reducing our carbon emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
In the meantime, mark your calendars for 8:30 pm on March 28, and get ready to join the world in turning out the lights. Let us know in the comments if you or your business plan to participate. (You can also sign up here to help Earth Hour organizers track participants. They're aiming for 1 billion across the globe.)
Then read up on ways to increase your home's energy efficiency and reduce your carbon footprint: The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has information on residential energy efficiency, and there are additional consumer tips at the Alliance to Save Energy. At Energy Trust, you can learn about energy efficiency programs and cash incentives. And the Oregon Environmental Council has an interactive carbon calculator to measure your impact.
Comments
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So glad the Portland is getting on board this year to celebrate EARTH HOUR. We can and must become the difference for our Ocean Planet's future as well as the ambassedors to future generations sustainability. What better mark could we leave in our wake than a healthy planet.
Southern Oregon needs to join Portland and the World by observing the Earth Hour. The message of the darkening of our cities puts much needed focus on our planets fragile eco-system and our role within it - for better or for worse.
From Grants Pass to Medford to Ashland - let's turn-out our lights between 8:30pm and 9:30pm tonight in support of a sustainable mother earth.
I believe this is a good idea and i plan on participating. I am encouraging eveyone I know to take part in this.
ok thats all good and everything! but why did my lights gas etc go off at 6:30pm by surprise and not return back on until approx 11:30pm and when I called PPL electric company the cause for the outage was due "to a tree down on a powereline" effecting only 15,000 customers only?????
Yes, I plan to participate as an individual. I'm very glad Portland is participating this year!