Screw "Earth Hour"

[ByronB]

I had my 400 watt metal halide lamp shining out my window for all of "earth hour", it was pretty awesome, it lit up the whole side of the building next to me and was pretty visible form the street... then right at 9:30 off it went. I'm sure most people won't get it but it was my little protest against the whole GW is caused by human produced CO2 misinformation campaign.

[Kat Kanning]

My mom emailed me that she had turned every light in the house on for the "occasion".

[Puke]

I forget which organization FTL mentioned that had "Human Achievement Hour" yesterday. 

On Wired Mag Blog the post stated that "If you've got kids, get them involved—explain to them about global warming, and why millions of people turning off lights and electrical appliances for an hour really does help the environment."

Yeah! It really does help! And if your child asks for proof of this help or is curious just exactly how it helps you will slap them and throw the child in the earth-friendly dark and cold dungeon until they realize that questioning things is wrong.

[dalebert]

Yeah! It really does help! And if your child asks for proof of this help or is curious just exactly how it helps you will slap them and throw the child in the earth-friendly dark and cold dungeon until they realize that questioning things is wrong.

Please tell me you've had a vasectomy.

[Pat McCotter]

Why your office won't be taking part in Earth Hour
Phil McKenna, contributor

The third annual Earth Hour will take place this Saturday night, with millions of people around the world flipping off their lights for an hour to raise awareness of the need to address global warming.

It seems so easy, flip a switch and for one hour - just 60 minutes, on a Saturday night - make do with no lights. How hard could it be?
For a modern office building in an urban centre, the answer seems to be very hard indeed.

I spoke with the owners of one Boston area office park - who asked not to be named for fear of being seen as "un-green" - and they listed a number of safety, security, and legal issues that come with blacking out a building.

The first concern is security cameras. If they turn off, say, a lobby's lighting, they've essentially lost their security system as well, as their cameras can no longer see what is going on inside.

If their remote cameras go down, the building owners I spoke with said they would need to hire additional security guards to ensure the safety of their assets and those of their tenants.

Then there are technical issues in actually blacking out a building. Buildings often have multiple breakers as well as battery-powered emergency lighting for the hallways and stairs of exit corridors. In the case of their buildings, they say the wiring for this backup lighting would have to be manually unplugged from their battery packs in order to be turned off.

For their office park of roughly half a dozen buildings in a commercial district that is largely deserted at night, they figure they would need to hire several additional security guards and several technicians to orchestrate anything approaching a near instantaneous blackout of all buildings. Because all such personnel are union employees, they would all have to be paid for a minimum of four hours.

"We're probably talking about a $5000 to $10,000 additional labour event for perhaps $100 in electricity savings," one of the building owners said.

Then there are legal issues. Building codes require emergency lighting of exit corridors, so to stage a full blackout, they would likely have to first ensure that each building is shut down and unoccupied.

The building owners I spoke to hadn't heard of Earth Hour until yesterday. They seemed genuinely interested in participating, but given all of the above constraints, didn't feel it was possible.

And they aren't alone. The White House has been getting grief this week for not taking part in Earth Hour. They've been tight lipped about their reasons, but some speculate it's for security concerns.

With the White House and even a typical office building seemingly unable to power down, I have to wonder if Earth Hour itself is somehow inherently flawed? Would it be better to invest the resources it might cost to participate into more energy-efficient lighting systems that could be utilised year round?

Or should building owners and elected officials stop listing all the reasons they can't participate and start thinking about how - perhaps in only semi-darkness - they can?

[dalebert]

Would it be better to invest the resources it might cost to participate into more energy-efficient lighting systems that could be utilised year round?

Absolutely not. That wouldn't include the requisite suffering and sacrifice.

[John Edward Mercier]

I just ignore the hype...

Climatologist have noted that certain compounds result in climatic change regardless of their origin.
Shutting off all electrical appliances for an hour... is about as genuine as trying to hold your breathe repeatedly to solve what for the most part is a non-problem... simply a function of an active system.

Since Antarctic cores have discovered that the continent was at one time ice free (or at least had a significant amount of ice free area)... its not outside the known non-anthropogenic parameters for the climate to be warmer than its current state.

[J’raxis 270145]

I forget which organization FTL mentioned that had "Human Achievement Hour" yesterday. 

On Wired Mag Blog the post stated that "If you've got kids, get them involved—explain to them about global warming, and why millions of people turning off lights and electrical appliances for an hour really does help the environment."

Yeah! It really does help! And if your child asks for proof of this help or is curious just exactly how it helps you will slap them and throw the child in the earth-friendly dark and cold dungeon until they realize that questioning things is wrong.

It helps—just like saying a few Our Fathers or dropping a couple bucks in the collection plate will help save your soul.

...

Well, it'll make you feel good about yourself at least...

[ByronB]

I think that innovating new solutions to save energy is a great thing, I just get really pissed off when clear thinking, innovation, and human life all have to take a step aside for a self regenerating mass of hyperbole that is IMO a embarrassment to humanity in general.

[coffeeseven]

Earth Hour is handy for gaining the favour of the hippie chick down the block. 'Nuff said. 

[John Edward Mercier]

Unless she's afraid it might increase the human population... whereby your on your way to be castrated.

[ByronB]

Earth Hour is handy for gaining the favour of the hippie chick down the block. 'Nuff said. 

Yeah, I think I failed on that, the hippie chicks despise me now. Oh well, conservative chick loves me now, LOL.

[Pat McCotter]

Unless she's afraid it might increase the human population... whereby your on your way to be castrated.

Speaking of over-population:

Science Advisor Warns World Population Exceeding Limits
Posted on: Wednesday, 1 April 2009, 14:28 CDT

/science_advisor_warns_world_population_exceeding_limits/
The Earth's population has exceeded its "limits of sustainability," according to Nina Fedoroff, a highly influential science and technology advisor.

"We need to continue to decrease the growth rate of the global population; the planet can't support many more people," said Dr Fedoroff said,

A National Medal of Science laureate, Fedoroff has advised the US secretary of state since 2007, when she began working with Condoleezza Rice. She is now an adviser to Hillary Clinton.

[Pat K]

I think Nina Fedoroff should immediately
off herself, thereby leading the way for other
who feel the same.

[Kat Kanning]

I think Nina Fedoroff should immediately
off herself, thereby leading the way for other
who feel the same.