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Thursday, September 02, 2010

Toronto Comes Out Of The Dark For Earth Hour

2008/03/29 | CityNews.ca Staff

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Toronto Comes Out Of The Dark For Earth Hour

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A plan to shed light on a crucial environmental issue was helped by thousands of Torontonians turning theirs off.

Toronto, along with the rest of the planet, went dark for 60 minutes Saturday, all part of the international Earth Hour effort to bring attention to climate change and the need for energy conservation.

During that time, Nathan Phillips Square was the site of a free concert headlined by Earth Hour Ambassador Nelly Furtado, who was joined on stage by The Philosopher Kings and Fefe Dobson. Organizers expected some 10,000 people to join in the festivities, which started at 8pm.

Toronto Mayor David Miller was also on hand to throw a ceremonial switch, plunging much of the city into darkness.

"We really have to act to fight against climate change," he said. "And by acting together we can make a huge difference, not just tonight but every day."

Most downtown office towers were on board with the World Wildlife Fund initiative, blacking out huge chunks of Toronto's skyline (pictured).

"It's not really about saving energy for that hour it's about sending a message to governments, to corporations and also to each other," insisted WWF's Keith Stewart.

Canada may have actually shined the brightest within the global effort, leading in number of communities participating at over 150 and making up one third of all the globe's participants.

"Canada is a leader in this," Mike Russill, head of World Wildlife Fund Canada, told a crowd of thousands who jammed a downtown Toronto square for the hour. "Climate change is the biggest threat to this planet and your individual actions count."

And don't worry, no power was wasted in the staging of this concert.

"Any of the energy that's used around here is in a bio-diesel generator," promised Virgin Mobile's Nathan Rosenberg. "So we're very focused on only using clean energy if we are using energy at all."

Earth Hour was first held in Australia in 2007 before the idea began spreading worldwide and in the 60 minutes spent in the dark last year, carbon emissions were reduced by more than 10 per cent.

This year everyone was in on the act, from Rome 's Colosseum to the Sydney Opera House, where floodlit icons of civilization went dark in turn.

"What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea," added Andy Ridley, executive director of Earth Hour. "It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody."

Earth Hour officials had hoped 100 million people would turn off their nonessential lights and electronic goods for the hour. In Toronto, power consumption dropped seven per cent during the hour it was lights off.

To see a full list of Toronto buildings that helped out by dimming their lights click here.

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