Cities Go Dark Across The World For Earth Hour

Los Angeles event caps 24-hour call to action on climate change

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

March 29, 2009
Picture it — you're walking a bustling city street in the evening, or you're sitting at home watching brightly-lit TV on your flatscreen — and the lights suddenly go out.

It's not the intro to a Hollywood disaster movie, or your local power company dropping the ball, but a deliberate statement from thousands of people across the world, as part of "Earth Hour." A global event coordinated across the world on March 28, nearly 4,000 cities shut down non-emergency lights and turned off power to major landmarks and buildings, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm in their time zone.

The event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in order to draw attention to global climate change and energy conservation, began in Fiji and culminated 23 hours later in Los Angeles with a celebration at "L.A. Live," the neon-drenched entertainment center at Nokia Plaza.

"This is a powerful message we're sending to our political leaders," said hostess Leeza Gibbons, "that we care about climate change and we want the world to pay attention."

Los Angeles City Hall as it would look when the lights were shut off for Earth Hour. Photo courtesy Enfluence Group.

Among the historic Los Angeles landmarks that shut down power for Earth Hour were the Staples Center arena, the Griffith Observatory, the Capitol Records Building, and the ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier. At exactly 8:30 pm, the Nokia Plaza itself went largely dark, though lights on many adjacent buildings remained on, and a sea of candles and lighters lit up as people cheered and sang along with the evening's entertainment.

Despite the relatively chilly weather and competition from a sold-out three-part concert by Prince right next door, the event attracted a small but passionate crowd that danced to sets from DJ Tony O from Ellen DeGeneres' talk show.

The LA Live downtown entertainment center at Nokia Plaza, before Earth Hour. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia and spread to 50 cities across the world in 2008. The WWF's goal for Earth Hour 2009 was to reach 1 billion people in order to draw attention to the 2009 conference on global climate change in Copenhagen.

"This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol," the organization said. "It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard."

The LA Live downtown entertainment center at Nokia Plaza, after the lights went out. Photo by Martin H. Bosworth.

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, speaking at the event, praised families for bringing their children along "to show them how important this is," and said that L.A.'s participation would reiterate his intent to make the city the "cleanest and greenest" in America.

"We will achieve our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 35 percent by 2030," Villaraigosa said, referring to his "Green L.A." plan to reduce the city's pollution and increase use of alternative and renewable energy sources.

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