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Now where did that power spike come from? Arbourist: *sheepish grin*
Dammit CBC you just ratted me out! It is machinations like this (not reminding me about earth hour) and the insipid commercials on Radio 2 that are straining our relationship!
“Canadians joined millions around the world Saturday night in turning off their lights to mark Earth Hour, celebrating the eighth year of the annual event.
But as participation appeared to be on the decline in recent years, supporters emphasized the goal was to raise awareness of climate change — 24 hours a day.”
You would think that I would remember these sorts of occasions and stuff, being all socially responsible and what not. Not the case this year. I believe I behaved in a manner that can only be described as “anti-earth” hour.
As I am having the family over for supper today, so Saturday for me, was the day of preparation. Doing laundry, using the oven to make Lazy Cabbage rolls (OMG, so good) and having almost every light in house on to facilitate proper vacuuming, mopping and dusting. It was an orgy of domestic power consumption (oh the bitter shame).
Oh, and my damn Christmas Lights were on as well because the damn automatic timer is behind a rather large (but gradually shrinking) pile of snow so we had the outdoor lights a blazing as well.
So this year, Anti-Earth Hour was brought to you by yours truly The Arbourist here in Alberta, the home of big oil and big lack of environmental stewardship.
Arbourist Out.
Enviro-puppy had a sad because of me. *sigh*
Bringing energy awareness to the next level!
The idea behind Earth Hour is a good one. Raising awareness of energy use and fossil fuel is a good thing, but really how useful is it?
Those people who are energy conscious will continue to conserve energy and treat it like the precious resource that it is. Conversely, those who are all about the consumption will continue to consume. I just wonder if having their ‘awareness raised’ is enough these days.
People’s awareness is certainly raised when it comes to paying for petrol at the pumps. Good heavens, we have been dancing around a dollar per litre for years now. Ironic considering that oil is a major export here in Alberta. But of course that is just the market working its magic, or so they say. Considering that oil is still floating around 80 dollars a barrel it still surprises me that our government cries poverty as well as the oil and gas sector. Those poor dears are being driven out of business by one of the lowest royalty regimes in the industrialized world.
I apologize, but the Alberta Tories repeated, unabashed love fest with Big Oil in Alberta rankles my feathers to no end. Back to Earth hour.
How we are going to raise awareness is make consuming energy less attractive. We need to add taxes to fossil fuel resources to bring them more inline with renewable energy resources. Take the tax revenue from the additional taxes and allow homeowner to retrofit and upgrade their dwellings for the new century, I guarantee that houses built before 2000 are not even close to the insulation standards we have today.
People will not change until it is too late. We need to address the energy consumption issue proactively when the people of Canada still have a choice about how to spend their energy dollar. The alternative, freezing in the dark because of market imposed energy austerity, is not a cheery future.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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