Phoenix, AZ – At 8.30 pm on March 28, in the Chatham Islands off the New Zealand coast, the diesel generators will be switched off, kicking off Earth Hour 2009.

For the next 48 hours or so, as the earth rotates, electrical power grids will be shut off across the world, so that every part of the earth experiences a dark hour. The Earth Hour initiative is intended to raise global warming awareness.

Find Out When to Shut off Your Lights

“Earth Hour is an important step to realizing that every one of us can make a difference in our energy future,” says Barbara Drazga, Publisher of EnergyBusinessDaily.com, a news service for the global energy industry. Download a list of landmarks that will shut down and when at EnergyBusinessDaily.com.

The lights-out initiative was conceived in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign but the idea so caught the imagination of concerned citizens everywhere that it evolved into an annual event.

The cities that have confirmed that they will participate in Earth Hour 2009 include 37 national capitals and some of the great cities of the world including Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Dubai, London, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Singapore, Athens, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Manila, Las Vegas, Brussels, Cape Town and Helsinki.

But the initiative is not confined to large cities. During Earth Hour 2009, the lights will go out at famous locations across the world, including the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Merlion in Singapore, Sydney Opera House, the CNN Tower in Toronto, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101.

Even Paris, the ‘City of Lights’, will join in the spirit of things by turning off its famous lights, including the Eiffel Tower, for Earth Hour 2009. And in the birthplace of democracy, thousands of Athenians will gather to watch the lights go out at the Acropolis in acknowledgement of their vote for action on climate change.

The campaign has brought renewed attention to energy and global warming issues, with public icons such as  Archbishop Desmond Tutu taking the opportunity to call for action on climate change, and Obama artist Shepard Fairey joining the initiative.

Andy Ridley, Earth Hour Executive Director, said: “Earth Hour will focus global attention on addressing the issue of climate change. We are asking one billion people to take part in what is essentially the first global vote for action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour and casting a vote for earth.

“Earth Hour hopes to provide a global mandate for action on climate change to the world’s leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December this year, where an agreement will be made to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

“Earth Hour presents an opportunity for every person in the world to have a say in that agreement’s outcome and ensure it isn’t merely an insubstantial token effort by our world’s leaders,” said Mr. Ridley.

WWF Director General, Mr. James Leape, said he is optimistic about the potential of Earth Hour 2009 to drive key decision making on the issue of climate change.

EnergyBusinessDaily.com is a news service providing market news, analysis and research reports to the global energy industry. Visit EnergyBusinessDaily.com for more information and to download an Earth Hour schedule.

 

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