Kudos to Canadians from coast to coast who led the world for an hour Saturday night in delivering the message it’s time for concrete action on climate change.
Dubbed “Earth Hour,” which was begun last year in Sydney, Australia as the brainchild of the World Wildlife Fund, people across the globe dimmed the lights from 8-9 p.m. in their respective time zones. And it was us Canucks who led the way on a per-capita basis.
According to a Canadian Press story on Monday, electricity usage dipped noticeably during “Earth Hour”—falling by more than five percent in Ontario, including 8.7 percent in Toronto. Demand also fell in British Columbia.
Hopefully district residents also embraced the effort, though it’s unclear how many actually did. The Fort Frances Power Corp., for instance, did not have data yet this morning for power usage on Saturday night.
Curtailing our thirst for power for one hour once a year obviously isn’t going to save Planet Earth from the ravages of climate change. The idea, however, is to get people thinking about global warming and realizing that small individual acts can make a difference in the big picture.
“The real point was not only to flip the switch on the wall, but flip the switch in our brains,” was how Julia Langer, with the World Wildlife Fund Canada, put it.
“Earth Hour” isn’t about reverting back to the Stone Age. Equally clear, though, is that mankind can’t keep polluting the air and water in order to drive our modern society. Changes have to be made—and time is running out.
Change can’t happen, however, unless people themselves want to make a difference. Reading by candlelight for an hour, instead of watching TV or surfing the ’Net with all the lights on, is a start. But to be truly successful, “Earth Hour” must become a state of mind, not merely an event.
Our “lifeboat” in the universe depends on it.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
