Can I get an hour of your time?

BUMPED...

Got an email today from RIIPL asking for support of Earth Hour (their press release is here).

Earth Hour 2009 will be a statement made by individuals and organizations in the form of turning out their lights for one hour at 8:30 local time on Saturday, March 28. It is intended to be a message of global support for action on global warming, aimed at the international negotiators, including those from the U.S., who will be meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009. Organized by the World Wildlife Fund, the action is expected to draw the support of one billion people worldwide. “Global warming is no longer a question, and no longer a mere economic or political problem”, said Howard Brown, Director of RI – IPL. “Stewardship of Creation is a moral issue. It speaks to how we treat the gifts that have been given to us, and what steps we’re willing to take to help protect those less fortunate than ourselves, who will disproportionately suffer the effects of global warming in the form of forced migration and starvation.”

Michelle Malkin suggests we celebrate human achievement hour instead:

This weekend, enviro-zealots will celebrate “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights. They’ve pulled this stunt for a few years now. But this time, they’ve added a new twist: “This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming.” How about voting for human achievement?

Vote for the earth or vote for people? How about a vote for 'none of the above':

Knight, whose house in a south ­London street known as Millionaires' Row serves as the unlikely headquarters for the G20 Meltdown group organising the siege of the Bank of England on 1 April, intends to “harness the rage” of social action groups and wants to use “Earth Hour”, a worldwide “power down” planned by the World Wildlife Fund to express solidarity against ­climate change, to target City firms that fail to turn off their lights at the appointed time of 8.30pm on Saturday night.

And what if some day you don't get a vote. The government decides to impose Earth Hour through your centrally-controlled meter via Google:

We could set up systems so that everybody in each house have their own smart meters that, uhh, will tell you when to turn off the lights, when the peak hours are, can help you sell back energy, uh, that you've generated in your home through a solar panel or through, uh, eh, other mechanisms.  All this can be done, but it also creates jobs right now.  Our biggest problem, we don't have enough electricians to lay all these lines out there.

Ya know, I'm thinking if the whole world stopped - just for one hour - and we all gave God our complete honor and attention and worship, a lot more good would come of it.

Who'd vote for that?

UPDATE: The Eco-Daughter and I were hanging out and one of NWF's Earth Hour commercials came on. Got us thinking:

- Why NOT ask Christians to use Earth Hour as an hour of prayer for the planet, for forgiveness, for the salvation of all those who need to be saved, and for wisdom to be better stewards of the earth.

- So how much carbon do we save if we end up lighting a couple dozen candles for an hour to replace the carbon being burned at the powerplant for our couple dozen lightbulbs?

UPDATE: "All these burning wicks raise the question: Are the emissions from these candles worse for the climate than simply leaving the lights on? After all, candles emit carbon dioxide too." Answer: It depends.

UPDATE: "Lights out for thee, but not for me" in Times Square and in a certain Nobelaureate's home in Tennessee.

UPDATE: The whole thing was as huge a flop as Live Earth. First clue: Diane and Robin's lead story was whether there's such a thing as healthy underwear. LOL! Copious Dissent, L.A. Times, Chicago Trib, and Craig Ashley Russell have more. Agree with CAR - approach this as an energy savings or national security issue, and you'd have more interest. Or maybe just remind folks how candles are so much nicer than crappy CFLs.

Good news is not much anarchy ensued. Well, hmmm. Maybe for all those who didn't doff their lights it was a form of anarchy...