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terryfrost at 07:26pm on 28/03/2008
terryfrost at 07:26pm on 28/03/2008Sitting here by the chimnea in the yard, enjoying the warm and primal glow of a fire, I remember a good bit on ABC radio today about the scam and sham that is Earth Hour.
Do I think global warming is real and dangerous? You bet.
But Earth Hour is going to save no electricity. It will save some people's power bills but it takes 8 hours to change the output of a coal-fired power station. Minimum. The output of Australia's power stations won't change, only the use of it will. Also, there's a calculation that says burning candles puts more carbon into the air than using a compact fluorescent bulb. Seems plausible so we can put a question mark next to that one. But I'm pretty sure candles give off more raw heat.
I'm very much in favour of lots of ways of genuinely saving on greenhouse gas emissions but Earth Hour is all spin and no solid science. Turning off your lights for 3600 seconds is nothing if you're driving a big SUV down to the 7-11 for slurpees and flying interstate twice a week for business meetings. A bit over a year ago Sal and I purchased a much smaller and cleaner car than we used to have, which saves us around twenty or thirty litres of petrol a week. It is only in the last five years that I've driven a car at all. At home we've gone over to laptop pcs from towers (with one exception) and for at least a decade I've been using fluoro bulbs.
So I'm leaving the lights on and probably watching Soylent Green on Earth Hour. If turning off the lights makes you feel good about yourself, go for it. Your heart, if not your head, is in the right place.
Do I think global warming is real and dangerous? You bet.
But Earth Hour is going to save no electricity. It will save some people's power bills but it takes 8 hours to change the output of a coal-fired power station. Minimum. The output of Australia's power stations won't change, only the use of it will. Also, there's a calculation that says burning candles puts more carbon into the air than using a compact fluorescent bulb. Seems plausible so we can put a question mark next to that one. But I'm pretty sure candles give off more raw heat.
I'm very much in favour of lots of ways of genuinely saving on greenhouse gas emissions but Earth Hour is all spin and no solid science. Turning off your lights for 3600 seconds is nothing if you're driving a big SUV down to the 7-11 for slurpees and flying interstate twice a week for business meetings. A bit over a year ago Sal and I purchased a much smaller and cleaner car than we used to have, which saves us around twenty or thirty litres of petrol a week. It is only in the last five years that I've driven a car at all. At home we've gone over to laptop pcs from towers (with one exception) and for at least a decade I've been using fluoro bulbs.
So I'm leaving the lights on and probably watching Soylent Green on Earth Hour. If turning off the lights makes you feel good about yourself, go for it. Your heart, if not your head, is in the right place.
bitchy
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