Canada Goes Nutso Over Earth Hour

I am actually really excited to see how much buzz this seems to be creating. I live in Calgary, Alberta which (let's be honest) is a pretty red-neck place in general - but all city building lights that CAN be off (ie. where darkness won't pose safety risks), WILL be off. I've even heard of some restaurants doing a "candelight dinner" that night, and altering menus to minimize energy use even in the kitchen. In terms of environmental consciousness, I'm usually a little ashamed of my city - but this has made me a little more proud again. Some of us DO care!

why is boston not in on this???

That Peter Foster article may be one of the most ill-informed, asinine things I've read in a long time. To think that some people would actually read and buy the drivel that man is saying is really disheartening.

On a lighter note, glad to see Earth Hour is getting such a boost in Canada - maybe someday the US will be as progressive.

as a Calgarian now living in the UK and working on climate policy - great to hear at least one very small thing goes well. maybe the population isn't as far behind as i thought (too bad they didn't vote and get better politicians though!)

Isn't this actually WASTING energy since the power plants will still be generating the electricity and no one is using it (you know what I mean). Kind of like the excess power at night being wasted that could power a huge number of electric cars??

Nice symbolism, but it would be better if people would actually do more with less on a daily basis.

power stations wont close down due to some rare low power condition, so it all gets wasted anyhow. Far better to take a longer view of education, and new stuff like LED's etc

www.fileprompt.com

How is 49,000 out of 30+ million people "going nutso"?

If 49,000 people saw a movie in Canada it would be considered a major flop...

greeneconomist:electricity doesn't work that way. If the demand isn't there electricity can't just circle around in the lines doing nothing, equipment will be destroyed. Some types of power plants can't change their output very easily, but others can, and every grid has a mix of both to handle just this situation. In a fossil-fuel plant when electricity demand drops, the amount of effort the generating plant has to put in to spin its generators drops instantaneously, and so it's fuel consumption drops too. Yes, it might be somewhat less efficient at a power output below its design capacity, but its wrong to say that energy is wasted by turning off the lights.

In Alberta, a lot of the power comes from Natural Gas or Coal powerplants (Alberta Energy), so no, it's not wasting electricity. I think this is a great signal to everyone out there just how committed Canadians are to sustainability.

Read Danial Quinn, not using energy is not wasting it, power plants simply provide the energy that is required by the power grid, If you thought not using energy is wasting it then you are misinformed, just think about it, if power plants didnt provide less energy when less energy was needed then they would be making energy nobody is using which would result in watsed resources and money. Power is not wasted at night, power plants lower energy production accordingly.

I agree with the fishwrap.

I also like the post button on this site calling for an "intelligent and civil comment." That made me smile.

@Read Daniel Quinn

Earth Hour FAQ

Is it correct that most large coal fired power station operate 24/7 and while there maybe less energy used on the night the power stations will still be running at the same capacity?

It is correct, however…when demand changes (i.e. lights and other electrical devices being turned on/off) power generation plants regulate their output accordingly. So in the case of coal fired plants, they will have to consequently increase or reduce their coal usage (in the case of Earth Hour this would be a reduction). Other types generators, such as gas fired plants and hydro plants also have to do the same thing.

In summary, the effect of Earth Hour will be to reduce electricity demand. Output from power plants will reduce (coal fired plant, gas fired plant and hydro plants). Which ones will reduce are dependent on what is operating at the time and what is determined by the electricity market(NEMMCO). Based on the time and day that the Earth Hour event is planned, it is very likely Earth Hour will cause a reduction in fossil energy power generation.

By far, this is one of the silliest ideas I've ever heard. If you want to conserve power, then conserve power. You don't need to sign up on a website to do it.

But hey, enjoy your hour. I'll be out looting under the cover of darkness.

This is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We have a global crisis and it involves not just warming, but shortage of cheap oil. Kind of ironic, but nevertheless, if we don't have a few large miracles, the world is in for a very bad time soon. I suggest world leaders meet to honestly and openly discuss the energy situation rather than starting false wars on terror to justify grabbing oil from middle east as the US has done.

what the heck is earth hour?? I live in Canada and I have no idea what youre talking about. maybe a link to another post with some background would help.

did anyone stop to think that possibly the solution all the "treehuggers" here are looking for is to live naked in a cave without benefit of heat, light, or running water?

see how green you all are after a decade or so of that!

untill someone can prove to me that the whole climate change argument is more than just an natural cycle of our planets ecosystem (without resorting to hate and scare tactics) i am going to continue running my energy saving lightbulbs, pay my £10 a year to greenpeace, and sit back happy in the knowlage that im warm and COMFORATABLE!!!

"How is 49,000 out of 30+ million people "going nutso"?"

The article compared the percentage of popluation "going nutso" vs the American polulation statistic.

You say we're going "nutso" because we want to conserve power and help the environment? Yea, real NUTS. Ignorant Americans. ...And the power plants don't have to work at max capacity all the time, therefore saving all that power.

P.S. What's with the picture of Sydney?? Are you kidding? There is no mention of Sydney in this article, not to mention, its about CANADA!

LA: I couldnt find a picture of toronto with the lights out.

It's unfortunate that the government in Hong Kong has failed to support this global initiative, although concern for the environment has never really been their forte (as we continue to choke on the increasingly overwhelming air pollution).

What does this demonstrate to our children?

There is not much awareness of this in the US. I live in Austin, a relatively progressive city and know quite a few enviromentaly concious people. I may have heard the term 'earth hour' mentioned before but it has not been well enough publicized to register in the public consciousness, especially given the high threshold that the American public consciousness sets for caring about anything.

Though symbolic gestures like candlelight vigils do seem a feel good waist of time, I think this is a great idea. I believe it could be more than just symbolic.
The discussion in America is focused on the idea of alternative energy however alternative energy is not going to solve our problems. The amount of resources needed to maintain our lifestyle isn't sustainable. We rich westerners will eventually be forced to change our habits. So a socially encouraged ritual of turning off the lights seems like at least a good first step.

At one point Recycling seemed like a purely symbolic gesture, and we still have a long way to go and there is too often corruption and fraud in its execution, but as a concept it has started to take hold in general consciousness and each year it gathers a little momentum.
Now, at least in this part of the country, the average person recycles, perhaps more out of shame and or guilt relief, than a real sense of saving the earth. But its better than nothing. Changing habits has to start somewhere.

Earth Hour needs a big media push in America for the meme to take hold.

Doens't Canada use more energy per capita than anywhere in the world? more that America for sure.. ironic

Yay for Canada. Now come on US, you can do it... get on board, its ONE LITTLE HOUR... If we can do it in cold Canada, you can do it to. 1 HOUR, just 1 hour.

Instead of just turning stuff off for an hour, I'd suggest people get a Kill A Watt power meter and measure everything in their house. You would be surprised how much stuff in your house wastes power that doesn't need to be plugged in.

My biggest surprise was a long power bar I had with chargers...cell phones, blue tooth, and laptop chargers. With nothing plugged in to charge, there was 120W of draw. Considering I'd only have to use the charges for a few hours once every couple days, 120W was a pretty huge waste being on 24/7. Now I kick the power switch each time I'm done a charge.

Once you walk around your place and add up all the draws, it paints a very scary picture of waste. Having the numbers display right in your face changes a lot of things then just reading stories of it.

It is amazing to me how uninterested a lot of the US is about global warming. What is it going to take to get people to realize that there is a problem?

There is no photo of toronto with its lights out since this will be the first year we are taking part.
The city has made a big deal of it and so has the main stream press, there will be outdoor concerts and such.

I find the picture of Sydney used for this article is rather misleading as the first one is a time-lapse photo - obvious from the tinge and the 2nd photo is just an ordinary photo taken at night.

I am apalled that good intentions are so easily twisted into we/they politics.
Yes, its real effect is trivial but every time the attention of the masses is nudged in the right direction it helps.

being from the US, I heartily agree that activities like Earth Hour need more publicity here. Earth Day is about as far as it goes here. Most people in the US who will participate are those who are already taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint, right? Regardless, it takes time for these ideas to grow in the social consciousness. Our government has been very slow (VERY SLOW) to sit up and pay attention to global warming and other environmental matters (e.g. Kyoto Protocol).

@ Harold: While Canada is not nearly the highest in the world yes we do use slightly more energy per capita than the US.

The difference of course is that we live in a climate where the fahrenheit and celsius temperatures sometimes intersect.

If I (along with pretty much the entire country) didn't have to heat my home from Oct. or Nov. to Apr. or May every year to survive my energy consumption would decrease much more than the 5% difference in consumption per capita between Canada and the U.S.

The only problem with earth hour, as much as it is a great idea to gain attention for the problems we face which is Global Warming, you don't save much energy or lower the overall carbon footprint by switching of your lights during earth hour. Remember, a power generator doesn't stop generating power, especially coal power plants. If you stop that generator it can take days for it to heat up. Earth hour is great, but going green is a lifestyle change. Lessen your impact on earth during the entire day. Just a thought though!

CTVglobemedia sent an email to it's staff asking them to take part and that they'd be shutting down all unnecessary equipment for the weekend.

I had proposed this idea a year ago but just failed to advertise it, you can read my story here: http://digg.com/environment/Earth_Hour_Idea_A_year_ago

san francisco did this last year and then moved the date for 2008's event to coincide with Earth Hour.

there was a party in dolores park where they gave away thousands of CF bulbs -- so there was a lasting effect beyond just the "awareness raising"

and any interstate / international rivalry that gets people to take action is a good thing in my mind as long as no one gets too smug about it. the US, Canada, AUS have atrocious per-capita CO2 emissions no matter how you look at it.

http://flickr.com/search/?ss=2&ct=6&w=all&q=lightsoutsf+or+LOSF&m=text

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/20/BAKSST3RL.DTL&hw=lights+out+SF&sn=011&sc=551

I was very discouraged when I realized how many citizens in my community who had no knowledge about Earth Hour. I live in a small town, just out side of Windsor Ontario Canada My son \Jacob and I spent a few hours in our small town posting flyers everywhere to inform as many people as possible about it. I'm proud to say that our family 'pinky-sweared' that for 1 hour a month, we would power down our home and acknowledge our own personal Earth Hour. i challenge everyone who reads this to do the same. Not only are you contributing to a healthy earth for your kids, your creating unforgetable memories for them. There's nothing better than a game of hide-and-go-seek in the dark, with your parents! One hour a month? Not much to ask.

I was very discouraged when I realized how many citizens in my community who had no knowledge about Earth Hour. I live in a small town, just out side of Windsor Ontario Canada My son \Jacob and I spent a few hours in our small town posting flyers everywhere to inform as many people as possible about it. I'm proud to say that our family 'pinky-sweared' that for 1 hour a month, we would power down our home and acknowledge our own personal Earth Hour. i challenge everyone who reads this to do the same. Not only are you contributing to a healthy earth for your kids, your creating unforgetable memories for them. There's nothing better than a game of hide-and-go-seek in the dark, with your parents! One hour a month? Not much to ask.

I really Don't see why there doing this since there isn't any proof man caused global warming is real, there going by 30 years of data and the earth has been around for at least 2 billion going through ice ages and whatnot. Heck Mars is experiencing Global Warming and man isn't there. Volcano's spew out more garbage than man could do. Global warming was talked about in the late 1800's and then in 1970's Global cooling was the big thing they talked about spreading black ash on the icecaps to heat it up. Its maddening that Al Gore thinks he knows what hes talking about but he doesn't last time I checked he doesn't have a degree in atmospheric science and the pure ignorance that people have when they beleive man caused global warming is real. Even the guy who created the wheather channel agrees "Man Caused Global Warming is the biggest scam in history"

I really Don't see why there doing this since there isn't any proof man caused global warming is real, there going by 30 years of data and the earth has been around for at least 2 billion going through ice ages and whatnot. Heck Mars is experiencing Global Warming and man isn't there. Volcano's spew out more garbage than man could do. Global warming was talked about in the late 1800's and then in 1970's Global cooling was the big thing they talked about spreading black ash on the icecaps to heat it up. Its maddening that Al Gore thinks he knows what hes talking about but he doesn't last time I checked he doesn't have a degree in atmospheric science and the pure ignorance that people have when they believe man caused global warming is real. Even the guy who created the weather channel agrees "Man Caused Global Warming is the biggest scam in history"

Earth Hour was started a year ago in Sydney, and it was so successful they decided to take it global this year. It's not so much to save electricity but to raise awareness. Learn more about it at www.earthhour.org.

Earth Hour is all about awareness, not at all about actually saving energy. Though if the current pattern continues we may find that we're holding earth hours/days/weeks/months much more frequently, in which case we may actually impact demand and thereby lower the supply and save energy. But in the meantime, the single most important catalyst for change on a global and systemic scale is awareness, and Earth Hour helps.
Kent
www.ecounit.com

This would be such a cool thing for people to do as a family thing. Like, play game boards with a flashlight or something like that. I haven't heard about this except from the article, but it sounds like an opportunity to build community if you do it with group of friends or whatever. There's nothing negative about it from a this aspect.

Dave ID, Saying that this is for "1 HOUR, just 1 hour" misses the bigger point.

Our cities should do this every night, all night. There's no reason for floodlights to exist, for vacant offices to be lit, or for parking lots at closed stores to have any light. Not only does that waste energy, but "light pollution" messes up birds' migration and throws other animals and insects off their natural cycles, as well. (I'm not arguing against street lights, which provide safety for pedestrians at night, or emergency lights like the ones that're supposed to guide you in a fire.)

So next year, will cities be lobbied to permanently change their nighttime lighting programs?

Earth Hour does several things

1 ) It really does save energy. Power companies know in advance that the grid load will be reduced and can plan some shutdowns.

2 ) It is like a candle light vigil for nature. The environmental destruction we have already caused and are causing is brought to our attention, and we talk about it. This promotes more long term action and change.

3 ) It brings the point of how concerned people are about the environment to politicians, media, and business. These follow the public, and Earth hour is our chance to speak.

I am proud to be a Canadian, and happy that so many truly want change and are willing to do something to show it.

My children and I took did our part with the energy conservation...we ate dinner by candle light and enjoyed each others company...
Following that night my children asked if it would be possilbe to turn our lights off every night! I replied, "of course, why do you think I've always asked that you turn the lights off when you leave a room?"
Since then we've lit candles after 8pm til bedtime...no total power outage, but a major power reduction!

Come on people, stop discussing the impact on energy usage from Earth Hour. This is obviously not an attempt to save power, it's an attempt to raise awareness.

If we just wanted to save power, we would have people turn off their lights for the entire evening or have different people turn it off at different times to reduce the peak load. But by having EVERYONE turn off their lights for THE SAME hour, we get more people to participate and have a more visible impact, which helps raise awareness of the overall issue.

To all the dissenters:
Earth Hour is similar in principle to AIDS Day, Cancer and MS walks/runs: as I'm sure you all know, all these problems still are very prevalent in our world, and one walk, or one day isn't going to cure anything. It's about awareness - something significant to grab the attention of people who either have sat on the fence, or looked the other way.

By hosting an event with something simple that nearly everybody can do (e.g. walk, run, flick off a light switch), and combining it with facts and community, more people will think positively towards making a contribution towards the solution.

Nobody is asking anyone to adopt a "No Impact" lifestyle the day after Earth Day (although go right ahead if you want to); just to take pause once in a while and consider if your habits of convenience are so imperative that even a little change is impossible.

Simply blowing it off - or even worse childishly turning on all the lights in spite of such an event - is not only obtuse, but selfish: like it or not, you share this grain of sand and drop of water with over six billion other persons, not only that, you share in its fate along with the future generations who are forced to live in the shadow of your legacy.

Seriously though: even if melting ice caps, climate change, and global warming are far to grand a concept to wrap your mind around, what about the immediate and most blatant effects of irresponsibility: smog and pollution? What motivates you to make a change?

What will it take?