Earth Hour - San Francisco - 8pm March 29, 2008

[Guest guest]

I have seen buzz about this online and in the local papers.

 

Courtesy of http://www6.earthhourus.org/

 

Join thousands of your Bay Area friends, neighbors and businesses and

millions of people around the world to make a bold statement about

climate change on March 29, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

 

Turn out your lights for one hour. Earth Hour.

 

San Franciscans are often in the forefront of environmental

responsibility and action. Earth Hour is another example of that

commitment. Buildings from Nob Hill to the Embarcadero will go dark

during Earth Hour. Iconic structures and office buildings will take

part, as will homes and apartments throughout the Bay Area.

 

Join Mayor Gavin Newsom and the City of San Francisco as they lead the

effort at 8 p.m. local time.

 

At the first Earth Hour last year in Sydney, Australia, power

consumption dropped by more than 10 percent. But Earth Hour's not just

about cutting back for one hour. It's about taking a stand and

thinking ahead about what you, your neighbors and your city can do to

slow climate change.

 

Seize the Earth Hour moment. Change some of your outdated

energy-wasting light bulbs to new, efficient and inexpensive compact

fluorescents. Think of other ways you can cut your energy usage and

trim your electric bill after Earth Hour has passed.

 

We are beginning to witness dramatic impacts as a result of the amount

of carbon we load into the atmosphere. Large sections of San Francisco

are at risk from rising sea levels. In 2007, snowpack in California's

Sierra Nevada was at 46 percent of its normal amounts. This snowpack

is the source of 85 percent of San Francisco's water supply.

 

To alter the current course of climate change we must act now.

 

That's why World Wildlife Fund is organizing Earth Hour around the

world; that's why Mayor Newsom and San Francisco area businesses and

residents are joining in. One person can make a difference. Cities

coming together can change the world.

 

One hour, San Francisco. Earth Hour.

[Guest guest]

Whatever its merits with regard to supposed climate change, this Earth Hour is a

nifty idea.

 

Overused and badly designed lighting is doubly bad. Not only does it waste

tremedous amounts of energy, it also obscures the beauty of the night sky. Our

ancestors had the pleasure of seeing all those faint and distant galaxies, star

clusters etc from their backyard while we are now forced to travel far from city

lights to enjoy the same view.

 

Notice that in the bay area you can see the clouds and fog on a cloudy night.

(Yeah, so what?)

 

The only reason you can see clouds at night (rather than just a black patch

covering the stars) is because of the tremendous amount of energy wasted to

shine light upwards into the sky (due to badly designed lighting fixtures,

general thoughlessness, and misguided aesthetic fancy) where it is completely

useless.

 

When not artificially lit by a huge amount of light from below, clouds are black

at night.

 

>Courtesy of http://www6.earthhourus.org/

 

>Join thousands of your Bay Area friends, neighbors and businesses and

>millions of people around the world to make a bold statement about

>climate change on March 29, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

 

>Turn out your lights for one hour. Earth Hour.