Earth Hour

This is the opera house and a bridge in Sydney, Australia... in the lower photo, any unnecessary lights have been turned off. This was taken last night, from 8-9pm local time. Check out Earth Hour's website for more.

I think this is a cool idea. Not only because our world has so much light pollution that no one can see the stars anymore -- or has any faith in their ability to see in the dark (insert spiritual metaphor here) -- but because we use a lot of energy.

Usually, I don't get into this big "sweep across the world" movements, or on FaceBook, "1 million for xyz cause." I'm an activist sceptic. But seeing a whole city choose to turn its lights off, even just for an hour, makes a powerful statement.

Even Google is joining in.

And I'm a big fan of nighttime darkness -- so turn off your lights from 8-9pm tonight. Think about energy use. Maybe next year, some US cities will turn some big lights off too...