Comments for It’s Our Earth, Well for One Hour Anyway at http://www.itwire.com , comment 1 to 10 out of 10 comments http://www.itwire.com Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:50:29 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7663 Hello Scrooge, I came across this article as I was writing my save the earth speech for writing class. Don't you get it? This isn't about how much electricty the event itself actually saves. This is about showing peeople that small actions do add up. It is about inspiring people to get out there and do something about climate change. It is a grand gesture, declaring our intention to make a difference in the world. It is about the results of the event, rather more than the event itself. Don't youu think that some people might have been impressed to see entire cities in the dark? That maybe it will make them think the next time they leave a room with the lights on, and ultimately about their lifestyle in general as it pertains to the earth. It isn't as though it was a hidden message or anything. Right on TV they went and talked about how they hope to inspire with this event. PS. No point in any of you doubters haranguing me. This is just a passing angry letter and I won't ever see anything you might write. - Alina Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:15:57 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7602 Just a thought... what's the impact of manufacturing a candle... and the carbon emissions of burning one - all compared with a single 75w bulb? I'm quite sure most Earth Hourists right now are burning half a dozen candles and congratulating themselves for turning off one light switch. - davidheath Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:15:40 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7601 Well said David, these new ages chumps and their trend environmentalism do my head in. - Gavin1 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:40:58 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7599 Small minds are amused by small things, and there's nothing smaller than so-called Earth Hour. It will make bugger all difference once a year. We should all be efficient and recycle more while making better purchasing decisions, but real environmental action will double our power and water bills and put up fuel prices by 50 per cent. How many Earth Hour enthusiasts will support that? - lantana Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:30:35 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7598 Apology to Dave… I just saw Critic2 said that about the light bulb… so my previous comment was to him :-) For anyone who picked it up in my previous post, I used the expression ‘km/litre’ for an electric car… ooops… I just didn’t want to say the American term ‘mileage’ :-) I know someone will be thinking what the… more correctly, I should have just said ‘driving range’. - Overseer Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:04:39 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7597 Dave: My refrigerator is an essential household item containing hundreds of dollars worth of food… and the marketplace does NOT offer low-power fridge alternatives… However with light bulbs, we DO have these options, which as individuals, we CAN implement… so I am surprised you even brought this up as a point. Critic2: Do you think electric cars get their batteries charged by magical free electricity sent down from the heavens? The electricity comes from coal-fired plants too… sent down a power line… and through an ac/dc converter to your car battery…. and yes, I am aware that the efficiency of doing so is much better than burning petrol; however, let us take baby steps before we try to run… Let me ask you: has the market-place got electric cars (or hybrids) produced en masse that are affordable by the majority of Australians and which provide the necessary km/litre? No, not yet… So let us ‘individuals’ start with things actually within OUR power… The higher order things such moving society away from fossil fuels altogether is something that only the slow-turning wheels of industry and government can fix. Cheers! - Overseer Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:55:20 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7593 @Overseer - Oh and by the way, your 75 Watt bulb uses a small fraction of the energy of your refrigerator. - Critic2 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:53:56 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7592 Completely agree with you Dave! This is sheer garbage. Overseer, our cities are probably much cleaner today than they were in the 19th century in the days when every house burned wood and coal to keep warm. The products you consume, including the food you eat are made possible by producers using electricity. Want to do something for the environment? Get petrol guzzlers off the road and replace them with ELECTRIC cars. - Critic2 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:43:11 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7591 @Overseer... feel bad? No, it was just a "grumpy-old-man" piece. Sometimes a negative article like this can actually encourage stronger positive feelings in those who disagree. Thanks for taking the time to respond. - davidheath Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:19:18 -0600 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17374/53/#comment-7590 Gee Dave... Earth Hour may be a token effort... but it won't do any long-term harm to the environment will it??? At the very least, the initiative keeps people mindful of how much junk us humans pump into our thin fragile atmosphere every hour of every day. Think of it as advertising... outlay a small amount now for great returns in the future... It may have a domino effect... perhaps make more people get rid of conventional light bulbs (only 15 percent efficient), switch off appliances when they are really not needed, and take a 5 min walk down the shop for some milk rather than drive. Over time, this all adds up... or should I say ‘subtracts’ from our collective carbon emissions. Sure, one person won’t make a difference, but together, we all make a HUGE difference if we each stop for a moment, consider, decide to care, and make changes. We will even save ourselves a few dollars for our efforts. Even if the future shows that there was no link between human carbon emissions and global warming, and we are simply witnessing a repeating natural cycle, at least the air we breathe will be cleaner... who wants to end up with smog-filled skies like China? The only thing I agree with you on is that Earth Hour will have the power generating companies saying a few expletives as the electrical load plummets by orders of magnitude, then, one hour later, bounces back to our usual energy-hungry ways. I might read a book by candle light for that one hour and leave just the refrigerator on. Cheers! PS I hope I did not make you feel too bad about the negative tone in your article. - Overseer Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:56:53 -0600