COLUMN: Earth Hour Pushes Awareness, Togetherness

(Photo is Canberra, Australia, before Earth Hours and during Earth Hour.)

Last week, I decided, at the last minute, to participate in Earth Hour. And I wrote this column, which is in today's El Paso Times.

 

Earth Hour Pushes Awareness, Togetherness
By Louie Gilot
Guest Columnist

On March 27, people around the world celebrated Earth Hour by turning off all power for 60 minutes.
Rome's Coliseum, London's Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, the Sydney Opera House -- they all went dark. Las Vegas turned off the Strip. Coca-Cola signs, offices and bottling plants darkened. All told, 4,000 cities in 120 countries participated. And at least one El Paso family did as well.

We hadn't exactly planned it.

But since we weren't doing anything when 8:30 p.m. (Earth Hour start time) came around, we said, "Why not?" So I went to the store to buy candles (scented), and we got started.

One moment we were simultaneously watching a large-screen TV and a portable DVD player and working on two laptop computers -- in the same room, but worlds apart. The next moment, we were in the dark, enjoying the dim light and the faint scent of the "Fresh Linen" candles.



Suddenly, we only had one another to entertain ourselves. And since we are not campers, it had been a long time since we'd been left to our own devices.


We had a "What now?" moment. Then we brought out the board games.

The point of Earth Hour is to bring awareness of climate change, the warming of our planet due in part to our consumption of fossil fuels. When fossil fuels like coal are burned to produce electricity, they release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. A great consensus of scientists and world leaders agree that global warming is one of our greatest challenges.

Recently, in an experiment that was part publicity stunt, part personal exploration, a New York City dad dubbing himself "No Impact Man" famously lived for six months without electricity. On his blog, he asks that we commit to an "eco-sabbath" and turn off power one day a week, or even one hour a week and cut our personal emissions. 

Of course, the world will not change because some people go Amish, even for six months, let alone an hour. Nor is it desirable to go back to the Dark Ages. But we do need to find better ways to do what we need to do -- work on computers, read a book at night, power life-saving devices at hospitals, etc. -- without degrading the environment that our children's children will have to live in. We need clean and renewable energy.

In El Paso for instance, we don't get electricity from coal but from the cleaner natural gas (half the carbon dioxide emissions of coal and oil). But natural gas is not renewable and it is not as clean as truly renewable energy sources such as solar power.

Earth Hour is connecting people around the world because our energy use is affecting everyone, from Minneapolis to Mumbai; and everyone has equal right to a sustainable planet.

On a personal level, Earth Hour was also a lesson in reconnecting with the people closer to you. The technology that connects us so well to faraway strangers also disconnects us from the person sitting on the couch next to us.

Last Saturday, my family and I played one game of Trouble and two games of dominoes and the hour was up. The lights went back on and we raced for the remote. Yes, we watched a movie.

But at least the movie was "No Impact Man," a documentary about the New York dad who lived without electricity for six months. And the best thing was, we watched it together.

Louie Gilot writes about all things green at the blog, www.lagreenga.com