Does Earth Hour actually help the environment? Fri, March 25, 2011
Do you plan on sitting in the dark this Saturday night?
Around the world, people will make the symbolic gesture of showing they support a cleaner world and lower-carbon lifestyle by raising their carbon output.
Earth Hour, started in 2007, encourages people to show their support for the planet by turning their lights off and enjoying the world by candlelight. The problem, of course, is for most Canadians that means turning off a low-carbon energy source and burning pure fossil fuels.
The absurdity is likely lost on most professional environmentalists.
Do you think people who can't heat their house today can afford an increase to their gas or electricity bill?
The extra cost to ship food and other goods to your local store, this will just be added to the price.
It might cause some reduction in fossil fuel usage, but I keep my house at 69F-20.5F when I'm in it, I'm not willing to go much colder.
Unless we're willing to accept that we can't sustain our current lifestyle, we can't give up fossil fuels today.
I'm not going to stop eating fresh fruits and vegetables, I'm not living in an icehouse, and I'm not walking to work.
Matt, 2008-02-18 12:18:33
Lorrie Goldstein says that we live in a cold country. That can't be true of Calgary, because I have seen dozens of trendy shops in Kensington with their doors posted open in the dead of winter. Lorrie also suggests that Canadians already pay enough for energy. This can't be true either, since on any given day I can walk through my neighborhood and find a half dozen porch lights left on all day in broad daylight. When I drive to Edmonton, dozens if not hundreds of cars and trucks pass me at 130 and 140 km/hr, even though their fuel efficiency is half what it would be at 90 km/hr. And even though hybrid cars are a proven technology, General Motors is building a plant in Ontario, with government money, to build more muscle cars. Obviously, gas is still cheap.
With thoughtless waste a daily habit on the part of so many Canadians, dare we act surprised when consequences like global warming, smog and acid rain show up?
The carbon tax is the most effective tool available to us as we shift away from fossil fuels. And Lorrie need not worry about the U.S., where economists, citizens, Senators, and CEOs are also demanding a carbon tax. Just ask Paul Anderson, CEO of Duke Energy, one of the largest utilities in the US and owner of many coal-fired power plants. He has been asking for a carbon tax for years, in order to be able to make sound business plans that will hold up for the next 30 years.
I heartily agree with Paul Berton; the carbon tax cannot come too soon.
Roger Gagne, 2008-02-18 11:25:54
No carbon tax. Kyoto is a UN scam to redistribute wealth. I would welcome a little global warming however many scientists believe the globe is actually cooling. Sun is entering a quiet period.
Dave, 2008-02-18 10:11:14
A carbon tax is what the elite want; part of a new world order that has dominion over the laws of all countries.
The "global warming" hype is being used to do this.
gordholio, 2008-02-18 08:54:20
Unemployed socialists may drool over the prospect of getting oil companies to pay for more social assistance through taxes, HOWEVER all that will happen is oil companies will pass the carbon tax on to consumers. The result will be these same greeny socialists won't be able to afford to heat their one bedroom apartments.
Does Earth Hour actually help the environment? 
Do you think people who can't heat their house today can afford an increase to their gas or electricity bill?
The extra cost to ship food and other goods to your local store, this will just be added to the price.
It might cause some reduction in fossil fuel usage, but I keep my house at 69F-20.5F when I'm in it, I'm not willing to go much colder.
Unless we're willing to accept that we can't sustain our current lifestyle, we can't give up fossil fuels today.
I'm not going to stop eating fresh fruits and vegetables, I'm not living in an icehouse, and I'm not walking to work.
Matt, 2008-02-18 12:18:33
With thoughtless waste a daily habit on the part of so many Canadians, dare we act surprised when consequences like global warming, smog and acid rain show up?
The carbon tax is the most effective tool available to us as we shift away from fossil fuels. And Lorrie need not worry about the U.S., where economists, citizens, Senators, and CEOs are also demanding a carbon tax. Just ask Paul Anderson, CEO of Duke Energy, one of the largest utilities in the US and owner of many coal-fired power plants. He has been asking for a carbon tax for years, in order to be able to make sound business plans that will hold up for the next 30 years.
I heartily agree with Paul Berton; the carbon tax cannot come too soon.
Roger Gagne, 2008-02-18 11:25:54
Dave, 2008-02-18 10:11:14
The "global warming" hype is being used to do this.
gordholio, 2008-02-18 08:54:20
Canada does not need any more frozen socialists.
Roch, 2008-02-18 08:51:46