Story posted Thursday, March 18, 2010
Time For Earth Hour
Rolling Meadows Mayor Ken Nelson hopes Earth Hour will get people to think about the lights that they leave burning.
"That's the whole idea: to get people to think about that," he said. Nelson admitted having his own problem with the issue. "I'm notorious. I turn lights on all over the place," he said.
Nelson read a proclamation about Earth Hour at the city council meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 9. Earth Hour is an international event organized by the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness about climate change issues. The event encourages business, individuals, and government to take actions to reduce both their carbon emissions and their impact on the environment in their daily lives and operations.
This year, Earth Hour is from 8:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 27 during which time all citizens, business, government agencies, and other establishments are asked to turn off all non-essential lighting.
Nelson conceded that some lights need to stay on for security or safety reasons, but added there could be lights left burning in city buildings that could be shut off during certain hours. "Maybe we do need to do an analysis of that," he said.
"The whole concept here is to call people's attention to this issue," he said. Nelson described each house having one extra light burning. "Each of us is wasting just a little electricity each time," he said, "but multiply it by 5,000 houses."
Rolling Meadows will participate in Earth Hour by turning off non-essential lighting at the government buildings, public schools, and public landmarks.
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