[urbandreamer]

He's the PM of Canada and must be protected: I'm certain the lights on attitude was an order from his security personel. I find it refreshing that not everyone follows some corrupt environmental group's idea of mass control.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The U.S. news did not have much of a lead up to Earth Hour. Very little news about it, but lots about their election of course.

One thing about the street lights, they mostly operate on photo sensors. When it gets dark, they go on.
I have a six-plex and the city by-laws state that requires that the stairways must have light. That is why the steps were lit up. I had replaced the timer with photo-sensors, along with replacing the incandescent with fluorescent light bulbs. My next step is to replace the photo-sensors with motion-detectors.
I did have my home's lights off. But the refrigerator, freezer, clocks, furnace, water heater, and security system remained on.

 

[CityPlaceN1]

I'm certain the lights on attitude was an order from his security personel.

So he sleeps with the lights on?

 

[urbandreamer]

He probably wasn't even home! And what Stephen Harper does with his lights is really none of our business!

If you truly care about environmental issues, why not join the Amish and live off the grid?

 

[Hydrogen]

I didn't turn off my lights because this exercise was nothing more than a publicity stunt, and publicity stunts are pretty useless. How many people who participated have now changed their habits the day after? Now that this exercise is finished, are we going to demand that every light considered surplus be turned off when night falls? Should those with nothing better to do go around demanding that all decorative lighting on all buildings - such as the CN Tower and Rogers Centre - be banned? How about Christmas lights? I know people have applauded shutting all this stuff off for this one hour; but now why not demand that Toronto Life Square go permanently dark at six - along with every other decorative light in the city?

As for the article about Harper and 24 Sussex Drive having its lights up, and the subsequent comment that Harper is an asshole; what about the asshole reporter who drove around to inspect all these houses and establishments with his media-induced superiority and moral indignation? He seems to get off with a pass. So far as I'm concerned, he's just a hypocrite.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

what happened after earth hour was over and everyone turned on the lights, the TV, went online, did their laundry, put their sex toys to recharge, etc..

had earth hour had wider participation, could it have had a negative effect on the power grid? doing such events during a heatwave could cause some serious problems.


i think people know that excessive electricity use has negative effects on the environment or know at least on their wallets. earth hour seems kinda redundant. everyday tips on reduction are better than one shot deals IMO.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

They (Toronto Hydro, and others) explained that it would not cause a power surge or anything if everyone had flicked their lights back on at once, since there wasn't an interruption of power. The same amount of electricity was still running through the system, just unused, so it's different from when there's a blackout and everyone turning their systems back on to cause a surge. They compared it to everyone turning on their lights when it becomes dark out.

And yes, this was a publicity stunt. They intended it to be a publicity stunt. It wasn't to reduce power usage on a Saturday night, it was to raise awareness that reducing energy usage can be as simple as unplugging your chargers and flicking off a light switch. It's about awareness, and I think the event did make people think about it, or at least talk about it, regardless of how publicity stunty it may be.

 

[unimaginative2]

How many people who participated have now changed their habits the day after?

I have.

Now that this exercise is finished, are we going to demand that every light considered surplus be turned off when night falls?

Absolutely.

Should those with nothing better to do go around demanding that all decorative lighting on all buildings - such as the CN Tower and Rogers Centre - be banned?

Decorative lighting has a purpose -- decoration. It is not "surplus". Lighting up whole floors of office buildings when nobody is working, for example, should be stopped.

 

[Hydrogen]

I have.

It took this little stunt to make you change your habits?


Will you be knocking on doors demanding that people turn off whatever you deem to be surplus/decorative lighting that you find unnecessary?

Considering that the electricity for this city comes largely from nuclear power, the argument that this will make some sort of impact on climate is rather flat.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Hydrogen, we all know that you don't find a correlation between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, but there are a myriad of benefits to reducing electricity consumption that even the staunchest climate change critic would agree upon. 1 gigawatt of savings (5%) across the province is not insubstantial; it's the equivalent capacity of a medium-sized power plant that would not have to be constructed nor maintained. The Earth Hour exercise proved that this 5% of our total electricity output was directed to provide power that we otherwise do not need to expend. I hope it highlights the sheer amount of wasted energy that we are paying for, and calls into question the need to build more generating capacity when we could just turn off lights we don't use. Even if you don't think in terms of the environment, why not divert those economic resources toward maintaing or producing something that is actually desired? This is especially acute in a country that is experiencing a severe labour shortage in the skilled trades.

 

[TKTKTK]

The Earth Hour exercise proved that this 5% of our total electricity output was directed to provide power that we otherwise do not need to expend.

That's where I think you're wrong.

It wasn't about turning off extra lights, or about power conservation. Earth Hour was about shutting off your electricity. Turning off all your electricity is not a tenable way to fight climate change - it's simply asking too much of people.

I think the event posed a greater risk of alienating groups that are already suspicious of the green movement, rather than bringing them into the fold.

 

[Hydrogen]

Power consumption after this even is pretty much what it was before the event.

If there was an interest in power consumption reduction then there would be changes to building codes. That would be one of the most direct ways to reduce usage.

But again, this stunt sent out mixed messages: was it about power consumption or worries over carbon dioxide?

 

[Mystery White Boy]

You people take this whole global warming thing way too seriously.

 

[Art Vandelay]

^LOL

I went for a drive around oakville during earth hour to see what we've done. It was really dissapointing actually. I only noticed three buildings in the city who turned off their lights. The oakville place shopping mall went completely dark, and the church in downtown on Lakeshore.

Downtown was lit up like it usually is: christmas lights on the trees, signs, shops, etc. I was dissapointed.

However looking at pics of toronto I must say I'm suprised!

You drove around during Earth Hour and then were disappointed at the number of lights on? You're kidding right? You remind me of a story in my local newspaper of a man who was throwing an Earth Hour party and vowed not to use his stove. Instead he was going to use his barbeque.

If Global Warming were real I would be worried. Instead I am mildly amused.

 

[Mystery White Boy]

Global Warming is a farce.