Earth Hour, part 2

More stuff. This time, some articles:

From the AP via the COP15 website: Lights out in 84 countries for Earth Hour

From the CBC: Lights out in several countries for Earth Hour 2009

From the CBC: Earth Hour: Making a difference?

From the National Post: Pacific switches off for Earth Hour

From the National Post: What's the point of Earth Hour, anyway?

From the last article:

Should every person feel compelled to take part in this because it's the right thing to do, morally speaking, or because it feels good to make a green statement? [I say: both] Is there a concrete way to measure the effectiveness of Earth Hour? [I say: the numbers of people who sign up to take part, and the effect that it has on COP15--keep your fingers crossed, everyone!] Should it be limited to just lighting, or should we be trying to reduce all forms of energy during this time? [I say: even though WWF just focuses on the "lights-out" aspect, I say YES!!!!] And must those who refuse or are unable to take part be admonished for doing so? [I say: yes for those who refuse, no for those who are unable to join in].

Even though WWF doesn't stress it, I'll be turning off and unplugging my laptop (and anything else that I can get my hands on) during the hour, so no blogging Earth Hour for me.

Take a look at the Earth Hour Flickr group. I'll make sure to take some photos during the hour and upload them afterwards. They also have a photostream showing celebrations worldwide.

Earth Hour really is a beautiful, powerful thing: you get send a message to governments worldwide, and it's like one huge party (especially in cities like Toronto). And this year it's an election with no minimum age.

I still don't get it: why do people insist on clogging up the comments area on the Canadian Earth Hour site with comments saying, "I'm turning every single one of my lights on, I'll have the sound system blasting, the TV on, etc., etc." What do people think they'll accomplish by doing that? And why are they doing it in the first place? Come ON, people--Earth Hour is COOL!!!!!!!!!

Eight and a half hours to go--yaaaaaaaaaay!!!!