The Earth Hour
21 February 2008
On 29 March, Christchurch will be joining several other cities around the world in the Earth Hour. Between 8pm and 9pm, everyone is supposed to turn off their lights as a collective stand against climate change. I'm not sure whether that's such a brilliant idea. The only thing that you can do in the dark at that time of the night is have sex. I suspect that Durex is going to sell a lot of contraception that week.
The Earth Hour is a symbolic event. What will happen when the Earth Hour is over? The lights will go back on, the kettles will start boiling, and everyone will go on to the Internet or start watching TV again. I doubt that the Earth Hour will have any long term effects. I would be surprised if many people buy eco-friendly lightbulbs, recycle more or start hugging trees as a result of the blackout.
What is needed is something that has more impact on our lives. The promotions run by the power companies allowing you to buy eco-friendly lightbulbs at a discounted price is the sort of thing we need more of. How about larger subsidies for installing solar panels? Events such as these would have a longterm effect, and would be better for the environment than a one hour collective bonk.