County Council endorses participation in "Lights Out" campaign March 28

Earth Hour on March 28 to bring awareness of "light pollution"

The San Juan County Council has joined the Town of Friday Harbor in proclaiming Saturday, March 28, from 8:30pm until 9:30 pm as “Earth Hour.”

The “Earth Hour” movement started in Sydney Australia in 2007 when an estimated 2.2. million people and 2,100 businesses turned off their lights and reduced the city’s energy consumption by 10.2 percent – a savings in carbon emissions equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the road for one year.

All of the County Government’s office lights and equipment (except for those needed for critical services) will be turned out during earth hour and the Council is encouraging all residents of the County to join in.

More information on Earth Hour is available at earthhourus.org, where visitors are urged to “join people and businesses around the world who are turning out their lights for one hour at 8:30 pm on March 28 and taking action against climate change.

‘Earth Hour not only turns global attention to the need to find solutions to climate change, it also demonstrates the power that each of us has to make a difference in the future of the planet. Go dark and show your concern for our living planet while sending a strong message to our leaders that we must act now to slow climate change. Sign up for Earth Hour 2009.

“Around the world, lights will also go out on some of the greatest monuments of the ancient world—the Acropolis of Athens and the Sphinx and Great Pyramids of Giza, as modern-day Greeks and Egyptians join Earth Hour’s global call for action on climate change.

“Approximately 5,000 years after their completion, Egypt’s Great Pyramids will go dark for Earth Hour, a potent symbol of what can be achieved through collective action on March 28th when around 2,400 cities in 82 countries turn off their lights for Earth Hour.

“The lights will also go out for Earth Hour on another of the ancient world’s great monuments, the Acropolis in Athens, a poignant icon in the birthplace of modern democracy for the world’s first global vote between Earth and climate change. Completed in 5th century BC, the Acropolis is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments.

“Many companies are participating in Earth Hour as well and sending a powerful message to the world about their support for action on climate change. Members of WWF’s Climate Savers program, which mobilizes companies to reduce CO2 emissions, have pledged their support. The Coca-Cola Company will turn off iconic signs around the world, including famous marquees in New York’s Times Square, near San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, in London’s Piccadilly Circus, Sydney’s King’s Cross and on the Las Vegas strip.”