capri0mni: A black Skull & Crossbones with the Online Disability Pride Flag as a background (queries)
Ann ([personal profile] capri0mni) wrote2008-03-31 12:30 pm

Just out of curiosity:

Can anyone around here point me to some somewhat reliable stats on "Earth Hour," that happened this last weekend?

Roughly how many people turned out their lights? and

Roughly how much energy was actually saved? etc.

The only kind of thing I've been able to find is on blogs -- mostly from people who are opposed to the idea of global warming, and were trumpeting the fact that the whole thing was a farce...

But really, what are the numbers, if numbers are to be had?

[identity profile] alto2.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I never even heard of this...

[identity profile] capriuni.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, that, in itself, says something about how effective the event was/is/will be, and how much media and public attention it gets.

I. myself, learned about it from my LJ f'list first, particularly [livejournal.com profile] indefatigable42 and [livejournal.com profile] nexstarman. Then, on Friday night, there was a brief (30-second, maybe?) mention of it on one local news station, about a local restaurant joining in.

Here is a Wikipedia article about the global event (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour)

[identity profile] indefatigable42.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
It was huge in Ontario, but I don't know where else it was being actively promoted. It started out in Australia last year. I didn't know about it beforehand then.

[identity profile] capriuni.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I gather, from the Wikipedia article, that it began in Australia last year, so I think you're right on the curve. :-)

[identity profile] alto2.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, bear in mind that I no longer watch TV news and read very little in the papers. I am not completely news-ignorant, and I hear about big stuff via other means, but too much news stresses me out, and I just plain don't have time for it anymore. That said, I AM on the mailing lists of several environmental groups, so you'd think I'd have heard about it there. Go figure.

Thanks for the article; I'll give it a look.

[identity profile] capriuni.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, this is the first year it's been international, and I figure it takes at least a couple of years for an event to become "An Event," and another couple of years for "An Event" to become "An Opportunity to Discuss."

So, there's always next year :-)

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