Sunday, March 26, 2017

Oh Damn, I Missed “Earth Hour”

It was last night, at 8:30 PM local time, so there would be no math involved.

earth hour 2017 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. - John 1:5

With all due respect to “Earth Hour” advocates let’s harness the power of electricity and use it to hear instead from Ross McKitrick, Professor of Economics, University of Guelph, Canada:

Earth Hour celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness. By repudiating the greatest engine of liberation it becomes an hour devoted to anti-humanism. It encourages the sanctimonious gesture of turning off trivial appliances for a trivial amount of time, in deference to some ill-defined abstraction called “the Earth,” all the while hypocritically retaining the real benefits of continuous, reliable electricity.

People who see virtue in doing without electricity should shut off their fridge, stove, microwave, computer, water heater, lights, TV and all other appliances for a month, not an hour. And pop down to the cardiac unit at the hospital and shut the power off there too.

I don’t want to go back to nature. Travel to a zone hit by earthquakes, floods and hurricanes to see what it’s like to go back to nature. For humans, living in “nature” meant a short life span marked by violence, disease and ignorance. People who work for the end of poverty and relief from disease are fighting against nature. I hope they leave their lights on. (Read the whole essay at Watts Up With That)

Virtue-signaling at its most arrogant uselessness. As pointed out on WUWT, North Korea is on track to win again this year as they have every year since its inception in 2003:

North_Korea_at_night

Professor Aiguo Dai, a professor in the department of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University of Albany, concedes that this is nothing more than a symbolic gesture, but it’s a symbolic gesture that says you care about the earf:

“If all of us can find ways to save energy and reduce consumption of fossil fuel, then it will significantly reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, and that could slow down global warming," he said. "If that still won't be enough, we need to develop new sources of green energy and move away from fossil fuel." USA Today

Some suggestions from the World Wildlife Fund on how to spend your hour in the dark:

• Burn calories by doing a candlelight workout with friends. [And hope you don’t set your yoga pants on fire]

• Spot the landmarks around you that participate in Earth Hour. [Wouldn’t it be easier to spot those not participating?]

earth hour

• Make art in the dark with your friends and share a good laugh when the lights turn back on revealing the masterpiece. [And be careful or you may note the irony of celebrating how lame your efforts are without benefit of light]

• Host a candlelight dinner party with family and friends. [That was prepared at every step along the way of the food chain with the benefit of fossil fuels]

• Look at the stars. [because many of them, too, will be virtue signaling in the dark]

maroon 5 earth hour

“I got a tattoo butt I didn’t know how to spell ‘Maroon’.” h/t Rush Limbaugh

• Commit to reducing your carbon footprint. [Alternatively, turn on all the lights and hope for a better idea]

idea on a light bulb

So keep up the good fight, earth warriors; all that virtue signaling should really help.

candle 2

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!