Environment

Lights Went Out

by clorenz1 | February 1, 2007 at 10:02 am

992 views | 0 Recommendations | 1 comment

Editor's Note: We went black at NowPublic World HQ. We even have a photo to prove it. If you also observed light's out, send us your documentary evidence!

Friends told me about this effort to highlight climate change by shutting down all electricity today at 10:55am PST. The idea is simple, if we all shut down our lights, computers, and electronic devices within the same five minute span, and then the gesture will be bright & glaring for the release of a major report on climate change tomorrow in Paris.

The debate seems to be everywhere, as everyone from CNN to the conservative talking heads have picked up on the issue. And you know when people like Senator James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, are railing against something, it must be true...

At NowPublic we are going to take five minutes and shut down our lights in Vancouver, and why not it's sunny here today. Are you going to join in? Let us know what happened by commenting to this article...

Citizens have been asked to turn off their lights and other illuminated devices such as televisions and computers in a show of unity before Friday's release in Paris of a major report warning that the Earth will keep getting warmer and presenting new evidence of humanity's role in climate change.

Some experts said that, while well-intentioned, the lights-out could consume more energy than it would conserve because of a power spike when the lights turn back on - possibly causing brownouts or even blackouts.

The activism was catching on in some other European countries.