World Turns Out For Earth Hour

MILLIONS of people in cities across the U.S. and around the globe turned their lights off for one hour last night to make an unprecedented and highly visible global statement in support for action on climate change.

“ Earth Hour” was marked on six continents and in more than 400 countries, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s largest conservation organization, which organized and coordinated the inaugural global event. The official website, www.earthhour.org received over 2.4 million visitors on March 29th, alone.

Major corporations, iconic landmarks, schools, towns and villages united in this effort to raise awareness and change the way people think. Like a giant wave, lights went out at the Sydney Opera House, Wat Arun Buddhist temple in Bangkok; the Coliseum in Rome; the Royal Castle in Stockholm, the Parliament building in Budapest, London’s city hall, the CN Tower in Toronto, the Westin Peachtree Plaza--the tallest hotel in the western hemisphere, Sears Tower in Chicago and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. In Israel, President Shimon Peres turned the lights of the city out with the flick of a switch.

“The true power of Earth Hour can be seen in the tremendous opportunity for individuals, governments, businesses and communities around the world to unite for a common purpose, against a common threat which affects us all,” said Carter S. Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund. “As the world witnessed on Saturday night, the simple action of turning off lights can inspire people around the world to action, and to making a serious long-term commitment to living more sustainable lives.”

The goals of Earth Hour, Roberts said, were to raise awareness of climate change, encourage participants to make long-term commitments to living more sustainable lives, and demonstrate that by working together individuals can make a difference in the fight against this global issue. That awareness shone clearly through the darkness Saturday night.

Earth Hour activities in support of this event rolled through virtually every time zone, with global participation in: Bangkok, Brisbane, Buenos Aires, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Fiji, Halifax, Manila, Montreal, Niagara Falls, San Juan, Scott Base (Antarctica), Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Toronto. A full list can be found at www.earthhour.org.

In the United States, Earth Hour was celebrated coast to coast, including in the flagship cities of Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL, Phoenix, AZ; and San Francisco, CA; as well as supporting cities Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA and St. Louis, MO and in smaller U.S. cities, such as Arlington, VA; Columbia, MO; Homer Glen, IL; La Grange, TX; and Norman, OK. In each of these cities, individuals and businesses created events to engage, enlighten and spread the message that together, each one of us can make a difference on this global issue.

Here is a sampling of results in each of Earth Hour 2008’s official participating cities:

Atlanta
Despite being hit by a highly unusual early spring tornado in the city’s downtown core two weeks ago, more than 400 buildings throughout metro Atlanta, including the storm-damaged Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel, participated in the first “lights out” event in Atlanta’s history. On the night the lights went out in Georgia, some of Atlanta’s most iconic buildings and landmarks, including the Bank of America Tower, Georgia Aquarium, CNN Center, and the Georgia State Capitol went dark for one hour when Mayor Shirley Franklin pulled the symbolic light switch as part of the city’s “Sustainable Atlanta” initiative.

Chicago
The City of Chicago was the first U.S. city to sign-on to Earth Hour, and the city continued to lead by example with more than 200 buildings in the central business district alone dimming their lights. Throughout the greater metropolitan area, more than 1,400 landmarks, businesses, and organizations went dark, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, theater marquees and the golden arches at nearly 500 McDonald’s restaurants. To support Chicago’s goal of being the greenest city in the nation, Mayor Richard M. Daley declared March 29, 2008 “EARTH HOUR DAY IN CHICAGO” and encouraged everyone to be aware of the effects of global warming and the need to address climate change in our daily lives. Local power company ComEd and advertising agency Leo Burnett were leaders in dimming Chicago’s soaring skyscrapers and beautiful skyline.

Phoenix
In the Valley of the Sun, city leaders took advantage of the NCAA West Regional basketball tournament at US Airways Center to darken the exterior lights and promote the event to attendees. In addition, Mayor Phil Gordon turned off Phoenix City Hall, as well as Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks), the popular Dodge and Orpheum theatres and Arizona State University, where students led flashlight tours. Restaurants across downtown Phoenix lit candles, served “eco-tinis” and showed off glow-in-the-dark attire to guests enjoying organic Earth Hour menus.

San Francisco
In the city famous for having hearts left behind, thousands of lights were left off in the City by the Bay as San Franciscans embraced Earth Hour 2008. Iconic landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, Ghirardelli Square, and Alcatraz all went dark, as well as dozens of local restaurants. More than 70 buildings throughout downtown San Francisco’s Financial District turned off their lights, while the SF Parks Department celebrated Earth Hour with a Family Campfire and Star-gazing along the shores of the San Francisco Bay at Crissy Field.

At the San Francisco Ferry Building, a group of San Francisco dignitaries and volunteers enjoyed a program MC’d by Olympic Gold Medalist and Bay Area native Brian Boitano. The evening was capped off by comments from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and a private performance by Beach Blanket Babylon’s Tammy Nelson. Beach Blanket Babylon is a San Francisco original and the longest running musical revue in theatre history.

Extensive Corporate Support
Earth Hour 2008 was supported by national partners Hewlett Packard, Esurance and National Geographic Channel, as well as other supporting corporations including The Coca-Cola Company, CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel, Cox Enterprises, Google, The Weather Channel and others who donated their time, products and services to help spread the word and raise awareness about this global issue. Not only have these organizations turned out their lights at many of their offices in the U.S., but they also donated several millions of dollars in advertising space in recognition of Earth Hour.

Coca-Cola, for example, donated space on its prominent New York Times Square and San Francisco billboards and additional space in movie theaters, elevator screens, and shopping mall kiosks valued at $2.5 million, and darkened the digital Times Square billboard and world headquarters in Atlanta during Earth Hour.

Google darkened its home page in the countries with official Earth Hour cities to raise awareness.

Earth Hour got its start last year in Sydney, Australia, when more than 2 million people and thousands of businesses turned out their lights. While power consumption dropped more than 10 percent in that single hour, the message that climate change must be slowed shone brightly.--WWF

Comments

[Mike]

It is great to see big companies getting involved in energy conservation.Every day people also can contribute to saving electricity by installing dimmer switches or timer switches in their homes also changing normal light bulbs to the energy saving compact flourecent bulbs.