When the lights go down in the city
By B.J. Reyes
(This is not about Journey, but I couldn’t resist the headline =)
The lights are going down in this city on Saturday night.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced today Honolulu is again participating in the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2009.
Citizens are asked to shut off all non-essential lights and appliances for one hour, starting at 8:30 p.m.
“It’s a simple display of concern for the environment and for the conservation of energy,” Hannemann said in a news release.
Earth Hour is held on the last Saturday in March — 8:30 p.m. local time — and is billed as a call to citizens, businesses and municipalities to shut down unnecessary lights, appliances and other electronic devices to call attention to the need for climate change.
The event debuted in Sydney, Australia in 2007. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that two million people switched off their lights that hour, followed by more than 50 million people in 2008.
Seven times more municipalities have signed on since last year’s Earth Hour, which drew participation from 370 cities.
Key landmarks expected to go dark or dim tomorrow include:
>> New York City’s Broadway theater signs, Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building
>> The Las Vegas strip
>> The Opera House in Sydney, Australia
>> The Eiffel Tower and Elysee Palace in Paris
>> The Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
>> The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
>> Niagara Falls
>> The Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt
>> The London Eye Ferris wheel
>> The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Locally dubbed “Honolulu City Lights Out,” this is the second year the city has participated and encouraged others to join the event.
More information, including an opportunity to register your participation and support, can be found online at: www.earthhourus.org
