U of T's Electric Balls

By Noah

8:30pm on Saturday March 27 is Earth Hour: a symbolic gesture of millions of people in thousands of cities across the world recognizing the need for global action at such a late hour in our climate crisis.  It represents a pledge of all participants to be more ecologically conscious, and sustainable in the coming years; an homage to the pre-industrial planet. 

Wait.  Earth HOUR?

So this unity under a banner of sustainability and environmental consciousness is only reflected during one pathetic hour out of the 8,760 each year? On the eve of environmental Armageddon our rallying effort to right the ecological wrongs of our forefathers can only scrape enough support for 60 minutes?

This is the best we can do?  

I’ve heard many people call factual BS on earth hour and demand to see how turning off their kitchen lights for 60 minutes could possibly make a difference.  Although they seem to be missing the significance of a symbolic global movement, they also kind of have a point: why not focus on a more tangible solution to the problem rather than an act of symbolism?

The idea is simple.  One hour. Free from electric lights and other non-essential appliances. Everybody participates. 

During this hour, massive amounts of electricity are saved. In 2008, Toronto reportedly saved 900 Megawatt-hours of energy. That’s an 8.7% decrease in energy output of an average Saturday night. Although this doesn’t amount to enough power savings to significantly contribute to the solution, it represents a collective effort to find one.

A year ago I would have defended Earth Hour and its symbol of hope to the death. However, after enthusiastically participating for two years, I’ve become disgruntled with the lack of participation from certain institutions.

This global phenomenon has hundreds of millions of supporters, it’s easy to do, and causes literally no inconvenience.  

So who isn’t on board?

2 Years ago I tuned into CP24 during Earth Hour to check out how the city looked with all its lights off (I’m aware of the irony) and I was shocked when the camera settled on the Parliament Buildings and the University of Toronto.  This shot of Queen’s Park seemed more like a frame around U of T’s newest source of pride – a spectacular view of the new $105 million Donnelly Centre for Biomolecular Research. Completed in 2005, the building just west of College and University is a glistening 13 stories of open concept windows that display U of T’s most innovative technologies (Check it out here). And during this hour, every single light in that building was turned on. It was a glowing sore thumb framed by the shaded hope of a nation of eco-conscious people.

Honestly, I was appalled to see the institution I had supported year after year make a charade of such an optimistic international initiative. Educational institutions are supposed to encourage global initiatives that aim to improve our future; so why would the University of Toronto forgo a chance to separate itself from individuals and organizations who think that Global Warming is a joke?

As a concerned world population, the fact that we can’t get more than a few hundred million people (out 6.8 billion!) to come together for merely an hour is a sign that not enough of us are taking this seriously.  What would happen if we had an entire day with no lights?  Or NO POWER hour?  I can’t imagine why such a simple symbolic gesture could be so easily mocked by the institutions that support it.

I urge everybody to go on the Earth Hour official website (http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx), and check out the comparative photos of city skylines and see if you think we couldn’t do better. Everybody should support this global initiative, and our academic institutions should be setting the example. 

On Saturday March 27^th if anyone you know calls balderdash on Earth Hour, I ask that you look them sternly in the eye, and say... “C’mon.  We can do better than that.”

C’mon Toronto.  Turn off those lights.

(That goes for you too U of T.)