Chicago will participate in Earth Hour, one hour when residents and businesses will be asked to turn out their lights in symbolic recognition of the role energy consumption plays in global climate change. Other American cities participating are 
Atlanta, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
So make plans now for where you will be 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, 2008.
It will be a spectacular sight from the Signature Room at the 95th, Restaurant 676 in the Omni Hotel, and other venues with prominent overlooks. I understand that people are already planning to be on the lawn at the Adler Planetarium to witness the South Michigan Avenue street wall go dark.
Street lighting, traffic signaling, and other safety-related illumination will not be affected. But GNMAA will coordinate the “powering down” of exterior building lighting and interior office and residential lighting in the area of The Magnificent Mile.
As one of the utilities across the country strongly promoting steps to mitigate global warming, ComEd is a sponsor of the event and is working closely with the City and organizations like GNMAA to ensure good communications.
Mayor Daley is not only promoting Earth Hour Chicago, but I understand helped convince mayors in other cities to support drawing awareness to global climate change by embracing the program.
For more information about Earth Hour, please visit the official website at http://www.earthhour.org/
For more information on the city of Chicago's participation, please visit http://www.earthmonthchicago.com/
1 comment:
Chicagoans are becoming increasingly receptive to learning more about conservation and appreciate the benefits and value of our resources. Earth Hour 2008 is a great idea! Thanks Mayor Daley and GNMAA for supporting it! Thanks ComEd for sponsoring it!
Great participation will shout to the world that Chicagoan’s “get it!” and understand it’s everyone’s responsibility to do their part to reduce global warming and light pollution in the city.
With such an accelerated call-to-action like never before of individual and community commitment for across-the-board conservation with such a dramatic kick-off... this Earth Hour will be in the Chicago history books.
Essential lighting would be left on and hopefully only of the best of responsible lighting design.(see IDA list of approved lighting fixtures)
It can be a time for a count-down to lights-out and group pledges. Restaurants & cruise boats can offer special candle-light dinners, folks will flock to the planetarium to see the stars. It will be an official good-bye to some of our ways we have gotten used to, a time to re-think, re-energize and step into the future.
Sign-up for EARTH HOUR at www.earthhour.org, turn off your lights for one hour, make a pledge for conservation and have a star party with your friends!
A note on Earth’s light pollution:
In the USA, about 10 billion dollars could be conserved each year by using better quality, properly designed lights. This equates to about 38 million tons of carbon emissions. On the average, each kilowatt hour generates over a pound of carbon." A single 100-watt streetlight or parking lot light left on dusk to dawn using fossil fuel generated electricity causes the emission of 672 lbs of CO2 every year." See International Dark-Sky Association web site.
We can fix it one light at a time with better choices.
By the way, "fixing the problem" will SAVE billions of taxpayers dollars, conserve energy, provide safe passage for migration of wildlife, be safer because of reduced glare plus provide a gift to children for the simple opportunity to allow their star-inspired imaginations fly as limitless as the cosmos. This is a great time to say good-by to some of the ways we have grown accustom to, re-think, re-energize and step into the future holding on to only the true gems of the past... which include a star-studded sky! --Audrey Fischer, Chicago Conservation Corps leader, Chicago Astronomical Society board, IDA member, StarPals founder and Chicagoholic :>)
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