Saturday, March 31, 2007

Sydney blackout to put the spotlight on global warming

[what a bunch of merchant bankers .... {wankers} ... ]

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's largest city will be plunged into darkness for an hour Saturday night as Sydney undergoes a self-imposed blackout to raise awareness of global warming.

million will flick off the lights for "Earth Hour" at 7.30 pm (0930 GMT).

Tourists will have to view the famous sails of the Sydney Opera House by moonlight, while the Harbour Bridge's steel span and the clown's face of the waterside Luna Park fairground will also be blacked out.

The neon on a huge blinking Coca-Cola advertising hoarding in Sydney's Kings Cross nightclub district will flicker off for the first time since it was installed in 1974.

Restaurants have agreed to serve diners by candlelight and pupils will attend schools for special Earth Hour parties.

The Newtown Hotel, which bills itself as Australia's oldest gay pub, has even organised a special drag show for the event, where the audience will be handed mini-torches to light up performers' sequins.

Many of Australia's biggest companies have signed up, with local McDonald's restaurants turning off the "golden arches" for the occasion.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which has spent 10 months organising the event with city authorities and a major newspaper group, said there had been a massive groundswell of support across the city.

WWF Australia spokesman Andy Ridley said the blackout would show Sydney in a new perspective.

"Nobody knows what it will look like. No one's seen it," he said.

"If all the lights go down, it will look like 70 or 80 years ago. But that's a guess, we don't know.

"I really hope it looks amazing so that everyone can just go 'wow, look what we can do!'."

He said the event was aimed at raising awareness about climate change and showing that an action as simple as turning out a light could make a difference.

"It's only by joining together that you can make a difference," he said.

"The world has moved into a time where we see climate change as a serious risk but we want people to realise that it's not all doom and gloom, individuals can take action to help address the problem.

"One of the things about Earth Hour is really to get the issue out of the scientific and specialist areas and into the mainstream."

Ridley said WWF hoped to capitalise on the popularity of the event in the longer term with a campaign to reduce Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions by five percent over the next year.

WWF believes a successful switch-off could then be copied by major cities around the world in a drive to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change.

Scientists link dangerous global temperature increases to the greenhouse effect, in which gases emitted by burning fossil fuels to produce energy trap heat in the atmosphere.

Organisers say there are a number of simple steps people can take to reduce electricity use, including unplugging appliances such as televisions, microwave ovens and stereos that are normally left on standby.

Other suggestions include switching to flourescent light bulbs -- a move the Australian government committed to earlier this year -- and using "green" power sources such as solar.