Southern California cities made a rather miserable showing for Earth Hour 2008. None of them participated, on a municipal level, that is. In fact, had a local weathercaster not mentioned Earth Hour in his daily e-mail yesterday morning, I myself would have been totally unaware that it was happening. Fortunately, other cities did participate: San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, to mention a few in North America. I also didn’t see anything listed in England, Scotland or Wales, but Dublin was right up there.
Thanks to the World Wildlife Fund for this observance. Having the lights turned off from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time was a rolling contribution to lessening CO2 being emitted, and an awe-inspiring commentary on what we can do, if we will just put our hearts and minds into preserving this wonderful world.
For more information and comments from those regions of the world that did participate, go to Earth Hour. You’ll find New Zealand, Australia, Suva and more. And let’s keep it going on a daily basis, not necessarily shutting off the lights from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day, but conserving energy every way we can. And sign up for 2009!