Lights Out Youngstown - Saturday, March 29

[Janko]

this debate reminds me of Pascal's Wager.

In a nutshell (but not exactly), Blaise Pascal was wondering if he should believe in a Christian god so he can get to heaven. If he didn't beleive, he would die and that would be in the end of it. However, if he did beleive in Christ, if there was a heaven, he'd be in there; if there was no heaven, well that would be the end of it, the same if he was a non-believer.

In this case, even if you are a non-believer or a proponent of global warming, what do you care if people make an effort to turn out lights one day?

If you do believe in global warming, shutting off your lights will reduce the demand for electricity, which is aggegate definitely lowers the carbon footprint, especially in Ohio where coal is the main source of electricity.

If you don't beleive in global warming, shutting off your lights reduces the demand for electricity, which helps to produce unused supply, thus lowering the price. Similar to oil, driving less = less demand = lower costs of a commodity.

If people slightly alter their lives, homes were better insulated, and businesses made their operations more efficient, a 10% reduction in usage is very reachable.

Either way, regardless if Rick is burning a pile of coal and if he wants to get into heaven, saving energy is a good thing.

[jay]

Don't forget Earth Hour is Saturday, March 29 - at 8pm!

To mark the moment, please turn off all your lights and unused appliances at the switch for an hour.

http://www.earthhour2008.com

These major U.S. cities are participating.
Atlanta
Chicago
Phoenix
San Francisco

[Towntalk]

Here is an update on the thermostat scheme I was referring to:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/17/BARNUGIKF.DTL

[Towntalk]

I have to agree with Rick, symbolism gone stark raving mad. This business of thinking that turning out your lights for a single hour once a year will save the earth is like the man who bashes his head against a brick wall until its just a puddle of mush to cure a headache.

I burn few lights because I'm dead cheap ... a penny saved is a penny earned sort ... not because of all the foolishness about global warming.

In watching The History Channel, there were several programs that put the global warming claptrap into perspective. Are volcano's the result of global warming? Is the dimming of the Sun because it is running out of fuel the result of global warming? Is the prospect of a meteor hit  that could exterminate life the result of global warming? The United Nations doesn't think so.

Will our turning out our lights for a whole hour convince China to stop polluting the air?

Symbolism over sanity cures nothing. The next thing we'll hear from the global warming crowd is for us to turn down our furnaces to 55 degrees. There are already ideas put forward to have thermostats hooked up to monitoring units that could allow energy companies control them by remote control.

[Rick Rowlands]

I hate to always be the voice of common sense in an insane world but this will accomplish nothing except making a few people feel good about doing "something" about a problem that doesn't exist in the first place.

I could understand a desire to turn your lights out to help conserve resources, but to cut carbon emissions?  Please!

If the hoax of man made global warming were true, then increasing the rate of warming would also cut carbon emissions since it would lead to milder winters, resulting in less use of fossil fuels for warmth, which would cut carbon emissions!

Go ahead , turn you lights out.  But do it for a REAL reason, not to help perpetuate the greatest hoax on mankind.  Just to balance things out at 8 PM on March 29the I'm going to start a big roaring bonfire and burn up this big pile of coal I have been saving from all these Christmases!

[our2cents]

8P local time for 1 hour.  I hope they do the worldwide satellite light map like they've done in the past with these types of events.

I have no idea for an outdoor activity.  If the weather is nice, then it would be a good time to sit out and watch the block during that hour. 

[jay]

I'll join you by turning off all of my lights and non-essential electrical appliances.

Is there a designated hour for this event?  I would be willing to keep the lights off all night.

Maybe we could encourage people to conduct a neighborhood outdoor activity the evening of March 29.
Do you have any ideas for such an event?

[our2cents]

8P 3/29/08 is the worldwide observance of LightsOut...for 1 hour.  We will be observing it here...including PCs, TVs, Etc.  Will probably go to bed.   

http://www.earthhour.org/

[Towntalk]

Good idea ...

No one could be any cheaper than me when it comes to burning lights. If I totaled up the amount of time I turn the lights on in my apartment it would total up to 2 to 3 hours a day and those are 60 watt lights. Of course I do run my computer some 12 hours a day ... my radio some 6 hours ... and my TV.

[jay]

I learned that Akron, Ohio was going to hold a "Lights Out Akron" event in a few months.  This observance is patterned after the one being promoted by Lights Out America
www.lightsoutamerica.org
Lights Out is a community-wide event for citizens, businesses and government across the city to turn off their non-essential lighting for one hour.  It's a simple act that you can turn into a long-term, high-impact habit to cut carbon emissions.

Would any groups be willing to organize a similar Lights Out for Youngstown?