Just over a decade ago, a lights-out event was held in Sydney to highlight the need for environmental awareness and the role that average people, as well as corporations, governments and non-governmental organizations could play in helping to preserve and protect Earth and reduce unnecessary consumption.
Since the initial event in 2007, Earth Hour, which is held in late March every year, has become the largest grassroots movement for the environment in the world, coordinated by environmental group WWF and other volunteer organizations.
This year 152 nations, including Taiwan, and more than 200 million people are expected to take part in Earth Hour on Saturday, switching off their lights between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.
Millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity are saved as part of the campaign each year.
In previous years, encouraged by local organizer the Society of Wilderness, landmarks around the nation’s capital, from Taipei 101 to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Taipei City Hall have taken part in the lights-out effort, while promotional events have been held at schools and at other locations.
Several organizations have planned activities in Taipei and around the nation for Saturday, from the Taiwan Black Bear Conservation Association’s march in Taipei on Saturday afternoon to concerts in Yilan County and elsewhere.
Given the furor last year over the disruption to the supply of natural gas to a power plant in Taoyuan’s Datan Township (大潭) in August that caused blackouts throughout the nation, triggered power rationing, led to the resignation of then-minister of economic affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) and sparked demands that the government restart idled nuclear reactors, Earth Hour should be a powerful reminder that electricity consumption is a crucial issue for Taiwan.
The debate over the use of nuclear power to generate electricity for this natural resource-lacking nation has gone on for decades, amid sporadic efforts by the government and Taiwan Power Co to encourage the general public as well as businesses to reduce their power consumption.
Saturday’s event offers another chance for reflection, but Earth Hour is not just about sitting in the dark for an hour. It is also about promoting environmentally friendly laws and policies from the grassroots up and reducing everyone’s carbon footprint.
Turning off the lights is easy. Making more concrete changes will be hard, but they can be done.
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