March 29, 8:30-9:30 was Earth Hour; we were all supposed to turn our lights out. To the great disappointment of the Diocese of Toronto’s bishop, most of the lights stayed on. He used his conveniently operational computer, phone or tablet, running on fossil fuel produced electricity, to tweet his anguish:
As environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg is only too happy to point out, Earth Hour is worse than an empty gesture encouraged by gullible clerics who can find nothing better to believe in; it does the opposite of what it purports to achieve.
As the United Kingdom’s National Grid operators have found, a small decline in electricity consumption does not translate into less energy being pumped into the grid, and therefore will not reduce emissions. Moreover, during Earth Hour, any significant drop in electricity demand will entail a reduction in CO2 emissions during the hour, but it will be offset by the surge from firing up coal or gas stations to restore electricity supplies afterward.
And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels—and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Using one candle for each switched-off bulb cancels out even the theoretical CO2 reduction; using two candles means that you emit more CO2.