Anti Earth Hour

Earth Hour demonizes electricity

2010-03-29T11:58:00.002+13:00

a reader sent in the following article...

The whole mentality around Earth Hour demonizes electricity. I cannot do that, instead I celebrate it and all that it has provided for humanity. Earth Hour celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness. By repudiating the greatest engine of liberation it is nothing more than an hour devoted to anti-humanism.

I abhor Earth Hour. Abundant, cheap electricity has been the greatest source of human liberation in the 20th century. Every material social advance in the 20th century depended on the proliferation of inexpensive and reliable electricity. Giving women the freedom to work outside the home depended on the availability of electrical appliances that free up time from domestic chores. Getting children out of menial labour and into schools depended on the same thing, as well as the ability to provide safe indoor lighting for reading. Development and provision of modern health care without electricity is absolutely impossible. The expansion of our food supply, and the promotion of hygiene and nutrition, depended on being able to irrigate fields, cook and refrigerate foods, and have a steady indoor supply of hot water. Most of the world’s poor suffer brutal environmental conditions in their own homes because of the necessity of cooking over indoor fires that burn twigs and dung. This causes local
deforestation and the proliferation of smoke- and parasite-related lung diseases. Anyone who wants to see local conditions improve in the third world should realize the importance of access to cheap
electricity from fossil-fuel based power generating stations. That’s how we developed.

The whole mentality around Earth Hour demonizes electricity. I cannot do that, instead I celebrate it and all that it has provided for humanity. Earth Hour celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness. By repudiating the greatest engine of liberation it is nothing more than an hour devoted to anti-humanism. It invites people to become sanctimonious do-gooders by turning off trivial appliances for a trivial amount of time, in service of some ill-understood abstraction called “The Earth”, all the while hypocritically retaining the real benefits of electricity. People who want to do without electricity to prove their symbolic solidarity with nature should shut off their fridge, stove, microwave, computer, water heater, lights, TV and all other appliances for a month, not an hour. And pop down to the cardiac unit at the hospital and shut the power off there too.

I don’t want to go back to nature. Haiti just went back to nature. For humans, living in “Nature” meant a short life span marked by violence, disease and ignorance. People who work to end poverty and disease are struggling against nature. I hope they believe in their own cause enough to leave their lights on…

If, after all this, we are going to take the view that the remaining air emissions outweigh all the benefits of electricity, and therefore we ought to be shamed into sitting in darkness for an hour, like naughty children who have been caught doing something very bad, then we are setting up unspoiled nature as an absolute, transcendent ideal that obliterates all other ethical and humane obligations. No thanks. I like visiting nature but I don’t want to live there, and I refuse to accept the idea that civilization is something to be ashamed of.

Earth Hour FAIL....

2010-03-27T01:44:00.002+13:00

Two more pictures...

Sad Muppets Unite: Earth Hour 2010

2010-03-27T00:26:00.000+13:00

Earth Hour Verging on Occult

2010-03-26T19:48:00.000+13:00

By David Seymour

Earth Hour fails at fighting climate change, so what is it about?

If previous Earth Hours are any indication, this Saturday’s annual ritual will possess a curious blend of contradictory properties. Switching off the lights for an hour will have little effect on climate change, practical or symbolic, yet it will likely follow the established trend of growing participation each year. All good contradictions deserve an explanation, but the most likely ones in this case don’t bode well for our Western liberal Enlightenment tradition.

Earth Hour will not reduce the consumption of resources. Even without the parties, concerts, or candle burning, Earth Hour could only delay consumption, not reduce it. A more effective way to pursue the goal of Earth Hour would be to calculate one’s annual income, divide it by the number of hours in a year and (cleanly) burn that much money—less money equals less future consumption.

Some might say that misses the point, Earth hour is meant to be a symbol. But it won’t “send a message” to politicians (at least not the intended one), and its hollowness causes other problems. As a thought experiment, why isn’t it Earth two hours, or a whole day? And how many Earth Hour participants really enjoy sitting in the dark, as opposed to burning candles, playing flashlight tag and attending Earth Hour concerts? The real message Earth Hour sends politicians is that people think this fights climate change, and any policies which actually restrict access to carbon-based energy would be political suicide.

At the same time, Earth Hour dims the image of carbon emission reduction policies by associating them with hardship. If climate change mitigation policies were sold as policies of sacrifice, they’d be even less popular than they are already. The best escape route from this charge of sacrifice is that new technologies (which, the story goes, we would have adopted long ago anyway) will make the shift to a low-carbon economy painless. Yet going without light for an hour celebrates sacrifice while renouncing technology.

This is not only the wrong image, it is the wrong policy. Earth Hour preaches deprivation (in principle, if not in practice) but wealthier countries are better environmental stewards than poor nations. That’s because people tend to look after their most basic needs first and the environment second. Saving the Amazon rainforest as vital carbon sinks is good and well if you live in a country like Canada, but some people in Brazil are desperate enough for survival that the army must fight illegal deforestation. Wealth and technology should be the celebrated hope for solving problems like climate change; instead, Earth Hour symbolically switches them off.

Earth Hour is not just ineffective at promoting carbon emission reduction. Politically and practically, it achieves the opposite. Why would somebody who cared deeply about climate change want to be part of an event so wrong-headed? The conclusion that Earth Hour is not primarily about climate change—rather that climate change is a proxy for some other cause—becomes harder to escape with each passing Earth Hour.

Some argue the other reason for Earth Hour events are to simply have a good time. Coca-Cola is a major sponsor and they know how to back a good festival –just look at the Olympics. The festival hypothesis may explain the motives of mainstream participants, but not the chosen theme of the festival.

In contrast, one U.S. think tank is promoting Human Achievement Hour, designed to coincide with Earth Hour. It’s a meditation on economic and technological progress that, since 1800, has doubled life expectancies and fed six times more people than ever before. Human achievement all but eradicated countless diseases such as polio and tuberculosis; it also puts 300,000 new books on the shelves every year, and so on.

Anyone with the slightest intuition about modern society, though, would bet long odds against Human Achievement Hour being anything more than a fringe event. Popular culture has moved away from the values that created our prosperous society by choosing a festival that celebrates downplaying or opposing our wealth and technology.

At the most flourishing time in human history, popular culture takes human achievement for granted. Instead, it seeks symbolism that renounces the Enlightenment values of the last two hundred years—quantifiable data, measurable results, reason, and the liberation of humanity and nature from the effects of poverty which destroys both human souls and nature. In the broad sweep of history, movements such as Earth Hour are usually described as occult.

ACT on Campus at Earth Hour Canterbury 2008

2010-03-26T19:34:00.000+13:00

Fan mail

2009-04-14T18:08:00.001+12:00

We've received a few emails from our supporters around the world. Here is one of the more amusing ones...

Name: im not a dumbass like u idiots

Message: wat the hell is wrong with you people global warming is not being taught like a religion!!!
explain the australian drought, the aussie bushfire and floods AT THE SAME TIME!!!! it is "mother nature" fighting back.
yes there have been cool and warm periods on earth before but this is extreme weather.
if we dont do something soon the planet will die, ur children will have a horrible dieing planet to live on because of you idiotic people.
i blame you for this crisis

"Turn on your lights!" - Joseph Farah

2009-04-01T02:37:00.000+13:00

From 8:30 to 9:30 tonight, lights will be turned off all over the world – from the Eiffel Tower to the Great Pyramids of Giza to the decadent marquees of Las Vegas and Broadway.

So be it.

The occasion is "Earth Hour" – organized by the World Wildlife Fund to persuade world leaders, as if they needed any more persuading, to take of what's left of your money and use it to cool off the planet.

I have a better idea.

Be sure to switch on every light in your home between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. tonight as a way to protest this madness.

Let me start at the beginning.

Man-made global warming is a hoax – a fraud being perpetrated on people worldwide as part of a power grab by elitists determined to steal what remains of your personal freedom.

It's not science. It's raw politics.

Czech President Václav Klaus presents the truth about global warming in his book "Blue Planet in Green Shackles"

No amount of man-made activity, certainly not illuminating lights, is going to cause even the most infinitesimal heating of the planet.

Further, the real science shows the planet is no longer warming for any reason whatsoever! The temperature of the Earth is actually cooling slightly, and has been for about five years.

Warming and cooling of the planet are natural cycles that have occurred from the beginning of time. Ask any scientist. In fact, these cycles occur on other planets where there is no life and no industry. How does Al Gore explain that?

But worse than the lie is the insidious strategy behind it. You are being indoctrinated to believe in this fraud so you can be more easily manipulated – so you won't squeal quite as loud when your wealth is confiscated, so you won't object when you're told (or your children are told some day) that the population must be limited to save the planet, when you're told that means you can't have any more children.

That's where this plot leads.

Many are falling for it – in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

"Global warming" is taught like a religion in your schools. And that's just what it is – it's a throwback to pagan Earth worship.

"Global warming" is taught as a way of life in your colleges and universities.

"Global warming" is preached as fact in your new media.

"Global warming" is stealthily propagated as a real threat in your entertainment – including in the best show on television, Fox's "24."

"Global warming" is, in fact, the new name for global control of the populace. It's the new name for worldwide fascism. It's the new excuse for communism or whatever name you choose for the coming tyranny.

Don't be fooled.

(Column continues below)

Don't participate.

Don't believe it.

Don't fall for it.

Resist.

You can begin tonight by turning on your lights when your less-informed, easily led neighbors are going dark.

Make a statement.

Let there be light tonight.

Evil loves darkness, so it's no surprise that some very evil people are promoting it once again. Don't be seduced.

Don't be like the sheep led to slaughter.

Fight back.

Think!

Do you really believe this hoax?

On what basis?

Do you really believe carbon dioxide leads to a warmer planet? There is no evidence to suggest it. Further, man is responsible for producing only a tiny portion of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. And carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, as you are being told. It is a naturally occurring gas that is vital to the support of life on the planet.

Use your brain.

Turn on the lights.

- WorldNetDaily.com

Earth hour increases electricity usage

2009-03-30T11:17:00.002+13:00

Andrew Landeryou presents this graph of Sydney's power demand on three Saturdays, the final one being Earth Hour. This past Saturday there was a large spike in usage BEFORE Earth Hour, presumably as people put forward the things they were intending to use electricity for so they could "save" power during Earth Hour.

There is some criticism of the figures on his blog, so the graph isn't definitive. But it certainly gets you thinking...

Hat tip: Not PC

The Herald calls for photos of earth hour

2009-03-30T10:32:00.001+13:00

Yes, that’s right! Not only can you get your eco-friendly electricity photos from Earth Hour published on the Anti Earth Hour blog, you may be able to get them into the Herald! They require a comment with every photo…

I’ve submitted the photo of our house, with the following message:

We thought long and hard about the most environmentally friendly way to light our house for earth hour. Candles were out of the question, the carbon emissions are too high (most are made from parrafin wax, derived from oil) and they produce polluting smoke that I wouldn’t want my young son to be breathing. We’ve been lectured for years now about the dangers of second-hand smoke. Torches were just as bad, as disposable batteries are toxic and use a large amount of energy to produce, having higher CO2 emissions than mains electricity.

Furthermore both candles and batteries are mainly made in China these days, and the emissions from transport must also be taken into account. Candles are also a fire hazard, and because of their inefficiency are far more expensive than electricity.

So we finally settled on NZ-made renewable hydro-electricity as the lowest-emission, most eco-friendly way to light our house.

Update: The photo is on the Herald website, along with Dave Mann's photo.

Toronto Lit Up

2009-03-30T00:45:00.000+13:00

This just in from Toronto, USA

We had an absolute blast for Earth Hour. I rented a searchlight and lit up all of Toronto.
Had about twenty of my best friends over. Everyone had a great time. Most people from the neighbourhood came over and laughed and chatted with us. A couple enviro wackjobs complained that I was killing the Earth. But I have to say that 95% of the response was very positive and very level headed.
This was so worth it. Thank you Earth hour.

Bright Lights in Auckland

2009-03-30T00:38:00.000+13:00

Dave Mann from Auckland tells how he and his family celebrated Earth Hour '09...

"We celebrated Earth Hour in Auckland at our home by switching on every light in the house, including the christmas fairy lights, and we ran our car engine with the lights on full beam and the indicators going just for good measure.

I had a little drive around the neighbourhood and I noticed several houses doing something similar and I beeped my horn and clapped and we called out to each other and waved.

We had a great Earth Hour celebrating mankind's wonderful achievements in dragging ourselves out of the middle ages and into the age of science and reason."

An Earth Hour Prayer

2009-03-29T23:56:00.004+13:00

A prayer left on my blog that I felt I must share:

Don't forget to walk around your garden, hugging all the trees as you go. You could even bow down and pray to them if you prefer.
Our Mother of Earth,
Hallowed is thy name,
Your end will come,
When our lovely sun,
Turns into a Red Giant.

Give us this day,
Our daily dread,
And reduce our excretions of carbon,
as we abort our populations.

Lead us not to our vehicles,
But deliver us back to the good old days,
Where life was sweet and easy,
And light bulbs (and women) weren't yet invented.

For thy Earth is our temple,
Our will is our destiny,
Until the Red Giant comes.

Amen.
Post left by Manawatu Christian Apologetics Society

Don’t Participate in 60 Minutes of Apolitical Ecology

2009-03-29T12:05:00.003+13:00

La Ivolution - non commercial also helped to spread the message:

Dont Participate in 60′ minutes Apolitical Ecology
Earth Hour

isn’t an Ecological Revolution

- it’s an Ecological Pollution

Earth Hour is a school level campaign for a dead ecology
we don’t participate to this colorless and apolitical Eco Sleep

...

I am proposing a worldwide strategy to discredit the theories of man-made global warming, starting with the 60 minutes of ‘Anti-Earth Hour’.

On the same date and time as Earth Hour, March 29th, 2008 at 8pm, your local time, join the fight against the lights off hour by turning your lights ON.

Getting Global

2009-03-29T11:58:00.005+13:00

From Θεαμαπάτες & Δικτυώματα - their blog is not in English but hey they still linked to us!

Edison Hour Wedding

2009-03-29T01:51:00.003+13:00

I'm pleased to report that the wedding went well. There must have been 200 people at the wedding, so that's a good 150 cars, plus the carbon emissions from the aeroplanes that transported a number of out-of-town friends and family. There was a sound system with the volume cranked up and heaters on full-bore to take the chill out of the Christchurch air. Many photographs taken with the flash on: somebody really should tell those people of the damage they are doing to the environment by taking those photos...

Some chilled champagne, beer and punch at the reception afterwards. And heck, the several miles of Christmas lights all strung up round the walls lent a nice aura to the room.

all things considered; an especially nice way to spend the afternoon/evening, and to use a lot of electricity doing it.

;)

From Greenland

2009-03-29T00:08:00.000+13:00

Just received via email:

"Thank you, you have at least one supporter in the "warming" Nuuk, Greenland, where we are having the coldest march in many years. Lots of snow too."
Ole Heinrich

Dirt Day

2009-03-28T23:51:00.002+13:00

Zen Tiger gets in on the action:

Following on from the staggering success of Earth Hour, a yearly event where concerned citizens burn alternative sources of fuel to celebrate the fact that they have turned the lights out, I'm suddenly rather keen on the idea.

I say "staggering success" because like all devotees of Earth Hour, I know there is no need to check the newspapers to know this idea "just works".

The planet can now be saved, as people are now psychologically prepared to accept the tough prescriptions of "Environmental Experts" to set humankind back on the path of carbon neutrality.

Just the easy stuff at first, like one child per family and tax rates of 80%, moving up to banning breathing, until finally we all become part Amish, part Hippie and live on a commune. Told you the easy stuff came first.

Furthermore, after one hour of the lights on dim, sea levels will probably not rise by half a centimetre now for another few years, and the average polar bear has 70 centimetres less distance to swim from their melting iceberg. It's made a difference.

Therefore many of those folk will be very excited to hear my suggestion, building on the groundswell of success. Not "Earth Hour" once a year, but once a week.

And not for an hour - how about A WHOLE DAY.

The Phrase "Earth Hour" is already taken, so I'll have to call my idea "Dirt Day".

So, just what is my idea?

Let's save some electricity, and possibly help reduce nationwide environmental stupidity by turning off the television for A WHOLE DAY.

Participants can either read a book, or have a conversation in lieu of staring at their television screen.

Greenies can pretend that it's all about saving electricity.

They can even take the batteries out of the remote control for the day. Now that's affirmative action.

Home Paddock: Irony By Candlelight
M and M: M and M versus the Borg Collective
ZenTiger back in 2008: Save the Planet in One Hour and Other Ideas

Speaking the Same Language

2009-03-28T23:25:00.000+13:00

Just found this one from Pølsemannen; you know it is true that you don't have to share the same language to understand each other....

Extract from Ρομαντικά σκοτάδια στον καναπέν (Major League Bullshit)

Έχω την εντύπωση ότι ογκούται παγκοσμίως ένα νέο σπορ.Αυτό του θεσμοθετημένου ξαπλαδόρικου ακτιβισμού. Μιλάμε για μέγεθος μεγαλύτερο από το ΝΒΑ. Μεγαλύτερο από το Μέητζορ Λίγκ Μπέηζμπολ (Βασόσφαιρο στις ΗΠΑ). Μεγαλύτερο από το ποδόσφαιρο και την ΦΙΦΑ. Ναι, μεγαλύτερο και από τους Ολυμπιακούς αγώνες.Στα πλαίσια της αμερικανοποίησης των πάντων θα μπορούσε να λέγεται Major League Bullshit. (Βλ. Προτεινόμενο λογότυπο κάτω).

Το Σάββατο οι και καλά συνειδητοποιημένοι κάτοχοι SUV, υπερκαταναλωτές ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας από σταθμούς που καίνε λιγνίτη (π.χ Μεγαλόπολη, Πτολεμαϊδα) ή πετρέλαιο, που γεμίζουν τα πάντα με μη ανακυκλώσιμο σκουπιδαριό, θα σβήσουν τα φώτα μεταξύ 20:30 και 21:30 σώζοντας τον πλανήτη από την καταστροφή.

Πω, πω, πω τι με λες ωρέ Λουδοβίκε…

Αυτό μοιάζει και είναι γελοιωδέστερο από την πινακίδα που είχα δει κάποτες που έγραφε «Βύρωνας αποπυρηνικοποιημένη περιοχή». Λες και υπήρχαν προτάσεις για αποθήκευση πυρηνικών όπλων, ή κατασκευή πυρηνικών σταθμών παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας στον Βύρωνα….

Ειλικρινά θα πρέπει να είναι κανείς κλινικά ηλίθιος για να θεωρεί ότι αν σβήσουν για μια ώρα τα φώτα το Σάββατο θα αλλάξουν οι συνήθειες πολιτών, κυβερνήσεων και κυρίως πολυεθνικών εταιριών τεράτων. Ας μην αναφερθώ και στους τραπεζίτες - αρπακτικά (Ρότσιλντ, Μόργκαν κλπ) που προκάλεσαν την παρούσα οικονομική κρίση τζογάροντας για την πλάκα τους με ηλεκτρονικές φούσκες ανύπαρκτου χρήματος. Μην πω και για τις γαλαζοαίματοι που μου προξενούν αναγούλα, που πολλοί από αυτούς ηγούνται κάτι τέτοιων οργανώσεων – οπερέτα σαν το WWF.

Το πρόβλημα της μόλυνσης του περιβάλλοντος είναι υπαρκτό και φυσικά δεν περιορίζεται στα καυσαέρια από την καύση των μη ανανεώσιμων ορυκτών καυσίμων ή τις κλανιές (μεθάνιο) των βοοειδών που αυξάνουν τα αέρια του θερμοκηπίου. Ένα παράδειγμα είναι η μόλυνση της βιόσφαιρας με τις μεταλλαγμένες καλλιέργειες – Φρανκενστάιν, τις συνέπειες των οποίων τόσο στο οικοσύστημα όσο και τον οργανισμό μας δεν τις γνωρίζουμε ακόμα. Όταν αρχίσουν οι ανεξήγητοι καρκίνοι και δε συμμαζεύεται θα είναι αργά για δάκρυα Στέλλα, θα την έχεις λασπώσει την ταλιατέλα.

Από την εν λόγω εκδήλωση το πολύ - πολύ να πανηγυρίσουν κάποιοι επικοινωνιολόγοι που θα δείξουν τον πλανήτη με λιγότερο φωτισμό σε δορυφορικές φωτογραφίες του Σαββατόβραδου. Ίσως και τίποτε εξωγήινοι παραξενευτούν ολίγον, όπως λέει και ο Old Boy. Καταπληκτικά τα λέει και ο μερακλής κατασκευαστής απατηλών αφασιακών δικτυωμάτων Χρήστος Μόρφος εδώ και εδώ.

Αφού εγώ προτείνω το παρακάτω αλ’ αμερικέν λογότυπο για την πρωτοβουλία θα εξηγηθώ καταλλήλως από κάτω:

They also have a cool video.

Ban Earth Hour

2009-03-28T21:57:00.001+13:00

Extract from Ban Earth Hour:

... Earth Hour is ridiculous.
No intelligent person believes we are going to make this world a better place by sitting in the dark for an hour or for a day. Turning a light off is not an accomplishment. Turning a light ON is the real achievement. Just ask Thomas Edison.
8:30pm Saturday March 28 is being hailed as "Earth Hour"
On this night, all those who care about the planet are being urged to turn off all their lights to save the Earth.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Earth was here long before man first walked on its soil and it shall be here long long after the last of us are gone. Earth has endured glaciers a mile high and a continent wide, radiation, hailstorms of comets, the freezing cold of space and the blistering heat of the sun. Our scientists estimate that not once but several times it has been struck soundly by orbiting mini-planets and nearly cracked in two. Yet still it stands. It does not crave our recognition. It does not need our help. It does not care about us. It is the Earth. It stands alone.
Mankind, on the other hand, cares. Man harnessed fire, developed the wheel. Man built shelters to protect us from the elements. Man created farming and irrigation to ensure that all would have enough to eat. Man tamed the wild animals and held predators in check. Man developed plumbing to keep disease out of our cities. Man built furnaces to heat our homes and allow us to survive in the winter. Man built air conditioning to allow us to live comfortably in what was once called desert. Man cured countless illnesses and brought comfort to the suffering.
Man built art, science, literature, and schools. It is man who now reaches out into space to one day build us a new homes on other worlds. Man harnessed the atom and brought us electricity and light to the darkness.
And so, on "Earth Hour" I shall be celebrating Man, not the Earth. I intend to turn on my electric lights as a symbol of Man's ongoing efforts to bring light to the darkness and understanding and order to chaos. ...

Being a Dick About Earth Hour

2009-03-28T21:28:00.002+13:00

Public Address' Keith Ng

How much can you save during Earth Hour? If you completely stop using electricity in your house, by my rough but generous estimate, you'd saved about 2,800Wh and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by 420g. (Workings at end.)
If you change a 75W incandescent lightbulb to an energy efficient equivalent, you'd save 65,700Wh per year (assuming it's on for 3 hours a day). That works out to 9,950g of greenhouse gases. That's one lightbulb.
(Ridiculous? I know. Every time I re-read this I have to re-check the calculations. 60W saving x 3 hours a day x 365 days a year.)
Blacking out the entire house for one hour every year = 420g reduction per year.
Replacing one lightbulb with an energy saving equivalent = 9,950g reduction per year.
To put it indelicately: F*** Earth Hour. [Edited so those with net nanny software can view page - y'all know what he wrote]
Go buy an energy efficient lightbulb and spend Earth Hour with the lights on watching TV - you'd come out ahead by a long, long way. Better still, take an hour's wages and buy energy efficient bulbs for people who don't have them. That'd actually be worthwhile. ...

Joey Hill Joins In

2009-03-28T21:26:00.000+13:00

From Joey Hill:

"There'll be one more house in Auckland with its lights on to protest Earth Hour."

Ignorant Hippies of the World unite!

2009-03-28T21:17:00.002+13:00

Beretta's Glenn shares:

... ignorant hippies around the world are switching off lights, TVs and other fun things because they think that by doing so they are helping the planet. They’re not. Someone told them it would help, and like other stupid ignorant hippies of our day, they just believed it and they are now taking part in this ridiculous token gesture to make them feel better about themselves.

Turning off lights for an hour and sitting around singing songs by candlelight is not helping the planet. As a matter of fact, it hurts the planet. The overall amount of carbon produced by a lightbulb is much lower than the amount of carbon produced by a burning candle. What’s more, a while back authorities urged people not to take part in a similar action, referred to as a “black out” in moral support of the All Blacks (my American friends, that’s our national rugby team).

This is because when thousands of people all turn lights and appliances back on at the same time, it can cause power cuts as the grid can’t handle the sudden surge. This is to say nothing of the mumbo jumbo that passes for “global warming science” that motivates a lot of these smelly greenies in their efforts in the first place.

Tonight, we have turned all out lights on for the hour. We have chosen this time to run our dishwasher and wash our clothes. The family is watching TV and I am using my computer to write this blog entry.

Cross over to our side. Join the sane world. ...

The Dennis house

2009-03-28T21:00:00.002+13:00

That's around 2000 watts of eco-friendly renewable hydro-electricity. Much better for the environment than smoky candles!

The Lights are On!

2009-03-28T20:30:00.002+13:00

We are lit up like a Christmas tree!

Don't you just love TV3's live coverage of Earth Hour?

My 7 year old said "why are they making a TV program about how everyone has turned their electricity off? Don't they need electricity to make it? Don't people need electricity to watch it?" Then he began laughing.

The kids like having the lights on in their room, means they don't have to go to bed til 9.30pm!

How is it going at your place?

Turn on the Lights already!

2009-03-28T19:55:00.000+13:00

From Dave Gee:

Don't believe the hype. And certainly don't believe the many biased media reports you'll hear about "Earth Hour", by reporters who have no clue what they are talking about.

If you have any common sense and self respect, do not take part in this Gaian celebration aimed at encouraging mass hysteria about the false religion of climate change.

The Dangers of Earth Hour

2009-03-28T12:39:00.007+13:00

This is a living post. Tell us why Earth Hour is Dangerous, and this will be added to the post...

Increase in muggings in cities as streets will be poorly lit
Fire Risk goes up as many use candles
Candles have a higher carbon emission/light emitted ratio than an ordinary light-bulb
Risk of tripping as people move around their houses in the dark
Creates an illusion that you are doing something to help
More harm is being done by switching production from food to bio-fuel, accelerating deforestation of the Amazon for food production. We are literally eating out the lungs of the planet!
Smoke inhalation from candles, increased risk of lung cancer.
Power surges when people switch appliances back on could cause power cuts (especially in the dodgy Auckland network), cutting off electricity to medical equipment and killing the seriously ill...
The CO2 emissions from all those candles might melt half of Antarctica and flood our major cities.
Earth hour puts at risk the trusting yet vulnerable elderly who like to play their part for a good cause. Switching off lighting and heating endangers their health and security.
Earth hour discriminates against the poor who have fewer electrical appliances to begin with, robbing them of the pleasant but delusional thought that they can do something different on one night to make the world a better place.
Earth hour will lead to a higher number of mysterious murders. I've seen enough whodunnit movies to know that the killing always takes place when the lights go out.
Many electrical devices (including CFLs) chew up more power being switched on than they would if left on in standby mode for the whole hour. Some CFLs will take this opportunity to blow, further adding mercury to our landfills.
I suddenly have a urge to eat polar bear steak... [Not sure why this is dangerous -perhaps catching it is -but its funny]
Earth Hour is dangerous because it causes mold and blocked drains.
your reason here...

Earth Hour is a Crock

2009-03-28T12:18:00.000+13:00

Keeping Stock want "to expose Earth Hour for the crock that it is" and say that "rather than celebrating Earth Hour at 8.30pm tonight, we will celebrate the life, light and times of Thomas Edison by lighting up."

Smoke, Mirrors and Fire Warnings

2009-03-28T12:17:00.000+13:00

HomePaddock's Ele informs us,

The Fire Service has issued a warning about the dangers of candles during earth hour.

This makes me wonder:

* What impact will all those candles have on carbon emissions?
* Does this mean that earth hour will literally generate more heat than light?
* Is earth hour, like many other sacrifices to the green gods, really just smoke and mirrors?

SWITCH ON THE LIGHTS!!! Wallpaper

2009-03-28T11:37:00.000+13:00

Click the image to download your official Anti Earth Hour Blog Wallpaper for your computer.

Sign Mr Linky

2009-03-28T11:11:00.000+13:00

MandM have set up a Mr Linky for everyone to sign and show what they are doing to protest Earth Hour.

The is an easy way for you to share your thoughts and plans, read others ideas and earn your blog some free link love for celebrating Edison!

Submit Pictures, Links, Articles

2009-03-28T11:00:00.000+13:00

use this form to submit your power-hungry earth hour activities as well as articles and links. please be patient, as your upload may take a minute or two

Entertainment Tips for Earth Hour Participants

2009-03-28T09:57:00.000+13:00

Samuel Dennis has an Earth Hour series highlighting the fact that Earth Hour is not likely to make any effect at reducing electricity consumption and in fact, will cause more harm to the environment.

Earth hour will kill us all! 1 - Lighting
Earth hour will kill us all! 2 - Appliances
Earth hour will kill us all! 3 - Entertainment

His latest effort looks at what the Earth Hour participant might do for entertainment when the lights are off; a snippet of Samuel's work:

What should you do this earth hour? You can’t watch TV, or read this blog, that would use electricity. You can’t work on the car by candlelight, you might cause a nasty explosion. So here are a few suggestions: ...
... You can’t read a book, or play a board game, you’d need to light candles for that, and that could cause immense ecological destruction. You could play “blind mans bluff” in the dark, but may trip over and break all the furniture you stayed home to protect. Or break an arm, requiring the consumption of toxic petrol to take you to the hospital.
No, you’ll just have to go to bed early. But DON’T be tempted to curl up under the covers in your cold unheated bedroom and snuggle with the wife. Population growth will destroy the planet. Keep your hand-knitted hemp underpants on.
To be safe, one of you had better sleep on the couch.
Lie in the cold, dark lounge, on the couch, listening to the hum of the fridge (which you should have left turned on) and contemplate that:
“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialised civilisations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” - Maurice Strong, founder of the United Nations Environment Programme. (via Micky’s Muses)
Get used to sleeping in the cold and the dark, it sounds like this won’t be the first night. And then one day, as you cough yourself to death from smoke inhalation (candles), hypothermia and botulism (you did turn the fridge off after all, didn’t you?), at the age of 40, with no children to remember your name, you may feel glad that at least by your sacrifice you may have saved the life of a snail, somewhere. Possibly.

Hot Air

2009-03-28T08:45:00.000+13:00

In Hot news... hot tip re hot air... Micky joins the call and suggests,

... If YOU are the lucky winner, you could trade the Prius in for a big old 4WD !...
Earth Day enthusiasts of course are very similar to the End Time fundamentalist Christians, sad souls burdened by guilt and searching for punishment and redemption. Both groups are hoping for the Messiah and The Rapture; The Messiah may be here, but us bloggers keep denying the greens their Rapture... Both groups too, feel that man's wickedness will lead to damnation and hellfire, and the deliverance from evil will come with such a thunderclap that all on Earth will repent and sin/consume no more...... while waiting for rapturous times follow these instructions on Saturday night......
at 8.30pm, on the 28th of March 2009, turn on every light in your house for one hour to protest at the rubbish you are being fed by the politicians and those calling themselves scientists and historians who are either lying to the public or are incompetent if they think that the fact we have just come off the little ice age is anything new......enter to win the Prius here...
PS...and you thought the hole in the ozone layer was caused by CFC's ?maybe not...see WuWT here...

Ozzy Calls for Christmas

2009-03-28T08:32:00.000+13:00

In a post entitled Earth Hour: Turn on Your Lights Ozy shares his thoughts and strategies to do his bit to drain the National Grid and calls for Christmas instead!

...while most of New Zealand huddles around their candles and whisper sweet nothings I will be following the lead of MandM blog. In my house every light will be on, I will crank up the electric heater, put on kitchen appliance and try and drain the national grid in one hour. That s because I think we can show more to the world about sustainability by using our lights than by turning them off.

Imagine if you would the media’s reaction to a family in New Zealand rigging up a hydro contraption in their back yard and used that for ‘Earth Hour’. The media would lap this up and run the story about a family living sustainably for the hour.
The reality is that is what we do in New Zealand anyway. Most of our power is generated via hydro power stations. Therefore we are already living sustainably!!!! With this in mind to promote sustainability around the world New Zealand should actually crank the whole system up, put on every light in the country and show the world how well it can work. (if we do that we better cross our fingers and hope it works and then hope it rains within the next week!!)

So I urge you to join me and show the world that sustainable energy is achievable, not by turning you lights off, but by setting up your Christmas tree and turning on every light possible.

Ecofascism Sucks

2009-03-28T01:16:00.001+13:00

Join the MandM Earth Hour Protest

2009-03-28T00:35:00.000+13:00

Celebrate coming off an ice-age, win a car and get a platform to air your view to New Zealand about the junk "science" behind the global warming movement.

Sound to good to be true?

But wait, there is more!

If you go here and enter the draw to win a brand new Toyota Prius, it will cost you the totally affordable price of $0. That's right folks, it's totally free!

You get a platform to express your views, the knowledge that hundreds of people will read them, the chance to drive away in a brand new black - I mean, can you get a cooler colour? Toyota Prius and it costs you no more than the few seconds it takes to write a trite soundbite.

[Ok, well, for Matt and other Philosophers it might take several hours to research the philosophy around bogus global warming science and formulate an argument that satisfies modus pollens but you get my point]

But if you click now, you also get this limited edition offer to participate in MandM earth hour. At 8.30pm, on the 28th of March 2009, turn on every light in your house for one hour to protest at the rubbish you are being fed by the politicians and those calling themselves scientists and historians who are either lying to the public or are incompetent if they think that the fact we have just come off the little ice age is anything new.

- MandM Blog

Earth Hour 08: Spot the Difference

2009-03-28T00:33:00.000+13:00

before and after pictures of the Earth Hour event in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, 28 March 2008.
A bit of an anti-climax if you ask me.

- Star Studded Super Step

Act on Campus Rejects Earth Hour

2009-03-28T00:28:00.000+13:00

WWF's international 'Earth Hour' is an embarrassment to Christchurch and should be cancelled out, according to ACT on Campus Canterbury President, Rick Giles.

"There is no scientific evidence for catastrophic global warming caused by CO2 emissions, the Earth Hour initiative is based on phoney science in an attempt to promote phoney awareness," he adds.

"Our electricity in Christchurch is generated by hydro-power, which has no impact on CO2 anyhow. After Earth Hour, when appliances- especially motors and fluorescent lights- are switched on again, on mass, a terrific drain will result across the grids which will require more electricity to be generated, and often more coal to be consumed, as a direct result of Earth Hour."

"Earth Hour organisers are actually squandering energy resources as well as putting people at an inconvenience in order to express their point of view about global warming."

"Alright then, ACT on Campus will enjoy energy resources and promote the unfettered convenience of full energy use in order to express our point of view about global warming."

ACT on Campus will be in Cathedral Square in Christchurch along side the Earth Hour campaigners. The student activists from Canterbury and Lincoln University will be spreading the word and handing out flyers to educate the people of Christchurch about the global-warming mass hysteria.

They plan to employ flash-lights and spot-lights during Earth Hour, and to engage in random acts of igniting petroleum products in and around Cathedral Square in a public display of enjoyable energy use in the promotion of the pleasure and modern convenience of unfettered energy exploitation.

If anybody has a lawn-mower they can lend the students for the evening (preferably a noisy and smoky one) for display purposes, please contact us at once.

- Act on Campus Canterbury 2008 Press Release

The Great Global Warming Swindle

2009-03-28T00:24:00.000+13:00

Earth Hour Will Kill Us All! - Lighting

2009-03-28T00:22:00.000+13:00

cross-posted from Samuel Dennis's blog

In this series I’m adopting the language used by the global warming enthusiasts in an attempt to communicate on level ground.

This Saturday, we’re supposed to turn off all our lights for an hour to “join [WWF] in taking a step towards living more sustainably”.

But what is the real effect on the environment of switching off our lights and burning candles instead?

Modern candles are generally made from parrafin wax - ie, oil. They burn inefficiently, putting out most of their energy as heat, while producing a little bit of light as well. On the other hand, most of New Zealand’s electricity generation is from renewable sources (hydro), so produces very low carbon emissions.

So what are you doing if you huddle over candles this Saturday?

Depending on how many candles & lights you use, you may actually increase your carbon emissions (unless you make your own candles from tallow of course (a renewable biofuel), so the die-hard hippies are ok. But they probably have earth hour every night anyway).
Inhaling smoke, damaging your lungs (again no change for the die-hard hippies if they’re on the weed anyway). Smoke inhalation is a major health problem in the third world, and is one of the reasons we use electric light...

Click here to continue reading.