Conscious Choice: Lights Out for Climate Change

March 2008 | On Our Radar

Lights Out for Climate Change

Mark your calendars: If all goes according to plan, the famous Chicago skyline will become a darkened silhouette at precisely 8 p.m. on March 29, 2008, in what planners hope will be a dramatic show of solidarity for climate change.

Chicago’s lights-out performance is part of Earth Hour, a worldwide event spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to draw attention to the role cities play in addressing climate change. The effort tumbled out of a smaller event in Sydney, Australia, last year. More than two million people participated in that initiative, which blacked out the Sydney skyline for an hour and reduced energy consumption by about 10 percent.

This year, the WWF is hoping to replicate the program worldwide. Chicago is one of 11 cities around the world (joining Brisbane, Copenhagen, Manila, Melbourne, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Toronto) committed to going dark on March 29.

“Chicago is going to be our flagship city, but we’re inviting people all over the world to do this,” says Leslie Aun, vice president of public relations for the WWF.

As she explains it, the point is not to save electricity or send a brazen message to utility companies. Rather, Aun says, Earth Hour is trying to help people understand how small, meaningful actions can contribute to addressing climate change.

“The success of this effort doesn’t fall on how much energy we save during one hour,” she says. “It’s a bigger message of connectedness and community.”

Participants are encouraged to turn off their lights at 8pm in their local time zone — and then spend the hour visiting with friends, exploring the community and strengthening the oft-neglected social fabric that binds us together. The overall effect will be a rolling brownout that will sweep across the globe as each different time zone goes dark at the prescribed hour.

And from a more technical, solutions-based standpoint, the WWF advocates replacing existing incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs during Earth Hour.

It wasn’t easy coordinating the participation of dozens of downtown skyscrapers and businesses, but Chicago’s government, real estate owners and utility companies offered strong support for Earth Hour.

For more information, visit EarthHour.org. And come March 29, make sure you’ve got a seat by the window — it’s sure to be quite a show.

— Patrick W. Rollens

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