Earth hour

[Daremo]

197
Turning off your lights for 1 hour tonight will accomplish nothing. You're NOT going to SAVE anything -- the electric plant is still gonna be creating power from water, steam, nuclear or fossil fuel. The energy you don't use will NOT be put in a bank somewhere. It doesn't magically accumulate in a giant battery until you need it after 9:30. This is a masturbatory exercise in self gratification that you are 'saving' the planet when, in actuality, you accomplish NOTHING.

The same amount of energy will be put on your local electric grid whether you use it or not. Your electric bill will be a trifle lower this month is all. The energy you don't use is not 'saved' nor will the amount of fuel expended to make energy be decreased by you turning off your lights.

In fact the general populace turning off light will hardly cause a ripple. This is because most energy is used by businesses. Shopping malls, casinos, factories, car dealerships -- this is where the energy goes. Hospitals, military bases, streetlights - you turning off the lights to 'save' nothing at all is rather pathetic and if you bothered to think for just one minute you'd realize the scam that Mr Al Gore is playing on you. Of course he has more credibility than an me -- after all he created the internet, didn't he?

[treefrog2]

Indeed.. However as every grasshopper will know:
The very substance of the rungs of the ladder you have stepped on to climb as high as you are, vanishes as you look down at where you once stood. It may be that some PRAT is creating this illusion for his own gain and that from your perspective its just an illusion. However for some people who have not reached your level of insight this small step may be what they need start to think just a little, and one day hopefully look a little deeper.
On the other hand I had never considered your point so .. Thanks :-)

[coffee]

Who the hell is Al Gore he once was who I can't seem to remember, Ohhh yeah he was that guy with the Iceberg show An Inconvenient Lie thing and was calling for the end of the World thing right my bad I forgot. Al Gore can kiss my ass sorry but he is as fake has a three dollar bill and I have never and will never buy into his bullshit.

Like you I'm not fallin for any of this horse shit, I will say however that humanity has a long way to go in saving itself from self destruction but turning off the light's for an hour isn't the solution and it's absurd to even think it's a beginning it's just LAME, it's an Insult to anyone with half a brain.

Well I would like to hang out and talk about this but I have go change my setting's on my 50" plasma TV to energy conserve ;)


after all he created the internet, didn't he?

The Hell he did, Dude we all now it was you D : )

[Daremo]

Actually the ones who stand to gain are...The power companies themselves!!

You see when there is less demand in a given area the power company does not stop producing energy. No, that is not in their corporate interest, they make money by selling energy. So if they don't sell it to you, who do they sell it to? They sell it to other locations which have more demand that their local power company can provide. For example: Arizona constantly sells energy to Los Angeles. LA can't produce enough for its demand. Power companies have a cap on how much they can charge residential consumers but there is no cap for businesses and other power companies, so producing and selling energy is a big business.

Power companies run at some high percentage of their maximum capacity at all times. The demand is such that only enough generators are held back to provide back-up in case of equipment failure. Otherwise it's balls to the wall. If they're not selling energy then they're losing money. Nuclear reactors cost big bucks, hydroelectric dams cost big bucks and the upkeep and staffing are also high cost. Make it and sell it and sell it for the highest rate you can. If they can convince the general population to 'save' energy then there's that much more to sell at a higher rate. Businesses are demanding more and putting more generators online is costly so make the populace feel that they need to save energy.

And BTW it's impossible to 'save' energy. There are no big buildings full of batteries holding that which you don't use. No, the grid is loaded and what doesn't get sold locally is sold down the grid to other areas. There is no shutdown at power plants if local consumption drops.

[treefrog2]

Primordial political goop.
Soup and quicksand in one.
Seriously what can be done about it? its not going to change its self because its designed to further itself not solve a problem and then vanish. Systems and entities do not usually say " we will do this job and then disband"
At the moment it serves as only a focus for frustration about whats wrong or as a tool to massage money. Its not a solution as far as I can see.
They had it in Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy. You cant become president of the universe if you have ulterior motives. They had some test for it too :-)

Until there is a way for power to be given to a group with no self interest its all just Primordial political goop. Lowest common denominator prevails.
Actually thats an idea. Can we base a political model on our understanding of how cells in an organism operate together. Something at least that will take us out of the political goop we have in the "Free World".

Put your well experienced minds to that guys.

[Kitz E Kat]

A complete joke of an event!
Tokenism at it's finest.