On March 28, from 8:30 to 9:30 PM local time, more than 1,000 cities around the globe will turn off their lights in a symbolic gesture designed to save energy of course, but also to draw attention to the huge waste we are all party to.
The event, organized by the W.W.F shows more participation compared to the 370 committed cities last year. Fiji will kick off to roll around the globe by time zone throughout the day. Cities slated to participate include Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Nashville, Oslo, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto and Warsaw.
60oneminutes.org is taking submissions for one-minute movies that support Earth Hour with the theme, “Take Back Your Power”. A selection of submissions will be broadcast on Current TV starting on Earth Hour through to Earth Day as an interactive way of continuing the conversation past 9:31 p.m. on March 28
One would ask: what is the point? Is it really worth it? How much energy are we really saving by merely turning off lights for an hour? Well, because climate change is essentially a political problem, and the language of politics is symbolism. Just because an act is symbolic doesn’t mean it is empty. The only way to truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to take the pressure off global warming, is an international regime that puts a cap and a price on climate pollution.
The question remains: when will we accept to be be inconvenienced for the sake of our planet? which of course is intrinsically linked to our survival, only we choose not to see it.
Credits: WWF, Times, Serengreenity