#EarthHour Photo of the Day

North Korea celebrates Earth Hour...every night:

Human Achievement Hour Tonight

From the Competitive Enterprise Institute:

As millions of people sit in the dark during Earth Hour to call for action against climate change this weekend, a libertarian think tank wants you to fight the power by keeping the lights on.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute plans to commemorate Earth Hour 2012 with its “Human Achievement Hour,” 60 minutes to gather with friends in a heated home, watch television and surf the Internet instead of dimming or shutting off the lights altogether to draw attention to climate change.

“HAH is an annual event meant to recognize and celebrate the fact that this is the greatest time to be alive, and that the reason we have come is that people have been free to use their minds and the resources in their environment to experiment, create, and innovate,” reads a CEI website on the event scheduled to coincide with Earth Hour 2012 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time Saturday.

Participants in the event understand the “necessity to protect the individual persons from government coercion,” according to the Washington-based think tank.

Light 'em if you got 'em.

Word of the Day

From Mark Steyn, describing all those Earth Hour supporters who think Mother Gaia will die if we don't change our ways:

Ecochondriacs

Perfect.

Earth Hour 2011, Otherwise Known As National Burglar Night Out

I can't believe I almost missed Earth Hour, or National Burglar Night Out, which takes place tonight at 8:30 pm local time.  This is the night all good liberals turn out all their lights for an hour thus giving the poor, downtrodden victims of GOP policies a chance to "redistribute the wealth".   The absence of lights is also a good indicator of which homes are not likely to have armed homeowners. Win-win for the bad guys!

I'll be celebrating in liberal Northern California where I expect it to be dark as the bottom of a well in most neighborhoods. I might even do a little "wealth redistribution" myself.

Sent via HolyCoast.com mobile.

ATTN: Burglars, This is Your Night!

For all you burglars reading this post on stolen laptops, this is your big night! At 8:30 pm local time across the country greenies will be shutting off all their lights in honor of National Home Burglary Night, otherwise known as "Earth Hour". Please enjoy yourselves and you assault those homes that have generously made themselves easier to rob without the protection of lights.

Stay away from the brightly lit homes. Those people have common sense and probably have guns, too.

North Korea Hour

Tonight the greenies will shut off their lights and bay at the moon for an hour in what's known as "Earth Hour", but Doug Mataconis makes a good point on Facebook:

Hey @EarthHour crowd, guess what your silly #EarthHour idea looks like when it's practiced 24/7. It's called North Korea

And that's the type of world in which the greenies want us to live - a communist fantasyland where no one even has enough money to afford electric lights.

My advice for "Earth Hour" tonight - light 'em if you got 'em.

Human Achievement Hour

Tomorrow night the greenies will shut off their lights and bay at the moon for "Earth Hour", but many of us will choose to celebrate the good things that human innovation has brought us (from the Competitive Enterprise Institute):

Date: March 27, 2010
Time: 8:30pm-9:30pm local time
Location: Everywhere

Human Achievement Hour (HAH) is the annual holiday wherein people around the world celebrate the human innovations that improve the quality of our daily lives. We acknowledge the individuals responsible for the technologies, medicines, and creature comforts and the necessity of using earth’s resources and energy in order to advance human kind. During the same hour others will “celebrate” Earth Hour—the environmentalist hour of darkness in which people turn out the lights to show their disappointment in the way humanity utilizes earth’s resources and to cast their “vote” for global action against climate change. If Human Achievement Hour is at all a dig against Earth Hour, it is so only by the fact that our holiday points out the true meaning of earth hour: it isn’t pro-earth, it is anti-man and anti-progress.

You may recall that some intrepid bloggers got photos of Al Gore's home during Earth Hour last year. You could have seen it from Jupiter, so clearly the earth doesn't need that much saving.

And if you aren't that big a fan of human achievement, you can always celebrate Alpha-Proxima Day instead - the day you turn on enough lights to drown out Alpha and Proxima Centauri.

Either way works for me.

An Expensive Earth Hour for One Family

A wise blogger asked this question the other day:

How many fires were started because people were burning candles for illumination?

The answer isn't zero:

A Mississauga family who tried to light a candle for Earth Hour nearly burned their Meadowvale townhouse down.

Afshan Khalid, 46, said her 8-year-old daughter tried to light a candle before Earth Hour started at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

“She was lighting up the candle and we thought it didn’t light up or the match fell somewhere that we didn’t notice and then we left,” said Ms. Khalid. The family was going to see friends and when getting ready, they lighted scented candles so they could see.

While they were gone, Ms. Khalid’s son Omar, 19, came home at 9:30 with a friend, saw smoke and called 911.

“The upper floor is damaged. The central part is all burnt out, smoke damage to all the bedrooms,” said Ms. Khalid.

Platoon Chief Paul Hunter of the Mississauga Fire Department said the fire caused an estimated $15,000 damage.

That's too bad and completely unnecessary. I think next time this family will ignore the envirowackos.

And I'm guessing their carbon footprint was not reduced that night.

Earth Hour Quote of the Day

From Watts Up With That?, a commenter on his site had this to say about Earth Hour:

I will be thinking about the 1.8 billion people on Earth who have no access to electricity, and how insane they must think we are.

That gives it some perspective, doesn't it?

UPDATE: Bonus quote from a commenter at Don Surber's blog:

Paul Gross: “We had an Earth Week here in Kentucky a little while ago compliments of the ice storm. And Air Force One still hasn’t paid us a visit!”

I'm So Proud

Either we Californians and New Yorkers who thought that Earth Hour was a lot of nonsense made sure electricity usage didn't drop last night, or there aren't as many dummies in this state (and New York ) as I thought (from American Thinker):

The Greenies did not convince the average liberal New Yorkers and Californians to turn off their lights at the appointed Earth Hour of 8:30 PM local time.

By looking at real time data in New York and California, there was no drop in electric usage.

I'm so proud.

And if you missed it, here's how Earth Hour was celebrated at Casa de HolyCoast.

Earth Hour Celebration

This is what the greenies decided to celebrate around the world tonight at 8:30 pm:

Darkness. Charming, isn't it. Sort of like the void between their ears.

This is how I'm celebrating:

Light and lots of it. I'm celebrating the achievements of humans over the years who have learned how to capture electrons and make them work for us to provide us needed light when the world is dark. The environidiots would have us return to the dark to "save the Earth". Well, if they want to sit in the dark, have at it. However, I and my civilized brethren will stay in the 21st century, thank you very much.

(By the way, for the record I'm not going to leave my car headlights on for the entire hour. I'd like to be able to start it in the morning.)

Watching the afternoon news reports was really disgusting. I got so mad I almost threw my shoe through my 42" electron-gulping plasma TV. I saw reports on both the Los Angeles NBC and ABC affiliates, and critical reporting was nowhere to be found on either channel. Both networks reported Earth Hour not only as a newsworthy event, but as something in which we should all be involved. In addition to reporting on the Dark Ages celebrations around the world and what would be happening in Los Angeles, the reporters cheerfully told us that we should participate. The ABC reporter said "Be sure to turn your lights out from 8:30 to 9:30 tonight to raise awareness of global warming!"

Why don't you go sit on a compact florescent bulb and spin.

And why does global warming need "awareness"? They've been pounding this drum for 25 years and if you're not aware of the propaganda by now, you're really not paying attention.

Well, let me answer my own question. The globalonists have a problem. Back in the mid-70's they were telling us that we were all going to die because of the coming global ice age. Then in about 1977 the sun decided to kick it up a notch and began to go into a cycle of increased activity and energy output. Lo and behold the Earth started warming.

You see, the heat on our planet does not come from SUVs, plasma TVs or other man-made appliances. It comes from the sun, and the sun does not always release energy in a consistent manner. It has warming and cooling cycles. Always has, always will.

The globalonists, realizing they were all wet about a coming ice age, shifted faster than Jeff Gordon at Bristol and suddenly decided we were all going to die from global warming. Voila, an issue they can scare people with a try to get laws passed that will allow them to control our lives.

That effort went merrily along its way until 1998 when Old Sol decided it was time to take a break. Solar activity began to slow down and with it the amount of energy reaching the Earth. Temperatures peaked in 1998 and haven't been as high since. Objective scientists are now saying we may be heading into a pronounced cooling period that could run 30 or 40 years.

That has really taken the wind out of the global warming campaign. Hence the creation of Earth Hour to try and gin up some needed support.

Thanks to a helpful media which won't even acknowledge the possibility that there are those who think Earth Hour is a bunch of bunk, we now have millions of people sitting in the dark, holding hands and baying at the moon in a pagan festival that would make the Druids jealous.

Well, count me out. The Earth doesn't need my help to survive. Man can't destroy it and we certainly can't save it. It's the height of arrogance to think we can.

The Earth Hour Challenge

Last night I posted a comment on the NBC4LA website challenging that local news team to cover those of us who will be protesting against Earth Hour by turning on every light in our house. I left them my email address if they wished further comment or wanted to know where to send the reporter.

No response so far, as expected.

So, doing the job that TV reporters pushing greenie nonsense just won't do, here are a few questions that should be asked when their pagan celebration ends tonight:

1. How many fires were started because people were burning candles for illumination?
2. How much carbon was thrown into the atmosphere by those fires or the burning candles?
3. How many people were injured because they tripped over something in the dark?
4. How many crimes were committed because we all know that crooks love darkness to do their work?

And for those who think that all this nonsense will save the Earth, let me suggest you further show your support by walking around in darkened areas of your city and celebrating its return to the Dark Ages. Surely the darkness will be good and holy and you will be bathed in joy from Gaia herself.

Just don't carry a lot of cash.

Meanwhile, tune back in here around 9pm PDT tonight and I will hopefully have some photos up of the well-illuminated Casa de HolyCoast. (UPDATE: Here they are.) And for those of you who will be joining me in Creator Hour or Human Achievement Hour (feel free to choose the secular or non-secular option), here a little video you'll enjoy:

Creator Hour

Doug TenNaple at Big Hollywood and I are on the same wavelength:

Our government dare not promote a national religion that refers to a traditional notion of God. We are collectively trained to avoid pushing our values onto others largely because relativism claims that there are no transcendent moral truths. But where we empty our lives of one religion, we don’t embrace neutrality, we just put some other dogma on the throne and claim “the debate is over.”

The worship and love of materials is our nation’s religion. I’d say it was a new religion, but it’s actually the oldest religion in the world, Paganism. Judeo-Christian values came from a pagan world with a radical new concept: the Creator, not the creation, should not be worshiped.

Recent leftist hysteria demands the removal of formal religion from public life. But they snuck in a new absolute for which we are not to argue. There’s no “true for you but not for me.” when it comes to the dogma of Global Climate Change. If someone tells me I have to change the light-bulbs in my house or I’m a bad person, I cannot reply, “Who are you to judge?” Their answer will likely start with something like, “Science says…” or “Everyone knows…” or a standard ad hominem like “racist,” “homophobe,” “anti-science,” or “Bible-thumper.”

My children aren’t allowed to hear about God in public school, but my seven-year-old daughter brings home Earth Day bull#### propaganda that instruct children to tell their parents to change light-bulbs, turn off lights, and re-use shopping bags. When my daughter obeys the national religion’s mandate I tell her, “Those aren’t our values. That’s not our religion. We don’t fear capitalism, and we pay for the energy we use. We believe in a God that is not the creation.”

I’d like to announce that Saturday, March 29th from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time is Creator Hour! We will make a statement that God’s illumination is the ultimate hope for mankind by turning on every light in the house for that one hour. Let your pagan neighbors self-flagellate themselves by depriving themselves of light. We need to make up for their lack of illumination by turning on yard lights, garage lights, maybe even start up the fireplace.

The Earth Hour website calls for us to “Vote Earth,” but I intend to cast my ballot for the other party: Vote Creator! Turn on the lights and show the pagans that illumination, inspiration, capitalism, creativity and sobriety in the face of hysterics is how we conquer our problems.

So, if you also have a higher opinion of the Creator than you do of fear-mongers, join me and turn on every unnecessary light you can from 8:30 to 9:30pm on the 29th. I’m turning on my pool lights, I’ll light some tiki torches, and I’ll probably leave the fridge open for that hour just to make sure my carbon production offsets the liberal church-ladies shoving their religion down my throat.

Check back in tonight about 8:45 PDT and I may post a picture or two of my well-lit house.

The Red State Pledge

Erick over at RedState is offering a special Earth Hour pledge:

I do solemnly swear that I will honor Earth Hour by turning on every light in my residence at 8:30 p.m. on March 28, 2009, for one hour. God said, “Let there be light.” Who are we to argue?

Count me in.

Celebrating the Dark Ages

Don Surber has a column on Sunday's Earth Hour, the latest pagan festival from the environwackos:

Let's sit in the dark and freeze to death

On Sunday, lefties will celebrate Earth Hour by shutting off the lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. A whole bunch of cities and corporations will also turn down the lights to show their political correctness.

Besides, it is Sunday night and none of these businesses and government offices are open anyway.

We had plenty of Earth Hours in Western Europe from 500 AD to 1000 AD.

We called it the Dark Ages, a time when the Western World regressed and abandoned all the cultural and scientific achievements of the Roman Empire.

Nice going, ancestors.

Instead of Earth Hour, I shall celebrate Human Achievement Hour by leaving on my lights and maybe turning on the air conditioner regardless of the temperature.

The furnace can always warm me if it gets too cold.

There's more here. I'll be joining Don in the celebration of Human Achievement Hour. My house will look like the Griswold home in Christmas Vacation when Clark finally got all the lights working. Look out power grid!

Human Achievement Hour - March 28

While the greenies and dummies are turning off their lights and sitting in the dark on Sunday night during "Earth Hour", the rest of us will be enjoying "Human Achievement Hour":

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2009—The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a leading free-market think tank, plans to recognize “Human Achievement Hour” between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on March 28, 2009. The new one-hour holiday coincides with Earth Hour, a period of time during which governments, individuals, and corporations have agreed to dim or shut off lights in an effort to draw attention to climate change.

“We are so proud that millions of people plan to show their appreciation for human achievement by doing things like eating dinner, watching television, going to the movies, and brushing their teeth,” says Human Achievement Hour Founder and CEI Policy Analyst Michelle Minton. “Never before has a new holiday caught on so quickly.”

The new one-hour holiday, unknown prior to this press release, has already received overwhelming support from many of Washington, D.C.’s leading institutions. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, for example, tells CEI that it does not plan to shut down all of the city’s bus and rail lines for the “Earth Hour.” The Kennedy Center, likewise, has scheduled a performance of the long-running play Sheer Madness, a jazz concert, and a dance performance to coincide with the Human Achievement Hour. Washington, D.C.’s Target store, furthermore, will remain open until 10:00pm on the evening of the 28th. The Smithsonian Institution also plans a film showing that will extend into Human Achievement Hour.

“We salute the people who keep the lights on and produce the energy that helps make human achievement possible,” says Myron Ebell, CEI’s Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy.

Other organizations around the world and the nation have planned events in support of the new holiday. For example, The United State Marine Corps will continue its combat and humanitarian operations around the world during Human Achievement Hour. The New York Times confirms that it intends to put out a paper on March 29th, 2009 (preparation and printing for that issue will take place during Human Achievement Hour). At least 30,000 movies will also be screened in celebration of Human Achievement Hour. Hospital emergency and operating rooms, likewise, will remain open in Washington and in the rest of the country. Nearly all of the nation’s Wal-Mart locations will also be open during Human Achievement Hour.

Those wishing to celebrate Earth Hour, however, do not need to take part in Human Achievement Hour. “Earth Hour is a viable alternative to human achievement hour,” says CEI Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer. “Those who wish to celebrate Earth Hour should sit in the dark, turn off the heat, and breathe as little as possible.”

I like it.

National Burgler Night Out - March 28th

If the local burglars in your community are suffering the effects of the recession, you can help them on March 28th, National Burglar Night Out:

On March 28, if the lights go off in your Cape Town hotel or, close to home, a Seattle hotel restaurant switches to candles, do not be alarmed. It's not an electrical-grid meltdown but a global show of support.

During Earth Hour, citizens of the world are asked to turn off their power for one hour, starting at 8:30 p.m. local time, in a symbolic stance against global warming.

Our power grids are fairly delicately balanced. Having a significant load suddenly drop off at 8:30 and then just as suddenly come back on at 9:30 can create a bit of havoc for the equipment and people who have to manage the electrons.

Consequently, to balance this problem out in my neighborhood, I plan to turn on every light in my house from 8:30 to 9:30 that night. Just doing my part to save the electric grid.

Turn Your Lights On at 8pm to Save The Power Grid

While watching CNN this morning I saw a piece on EarthHour.org, a movement by various econuts to make some sort of statement about energy usage. Here's what they say on their own website:

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

Unfortunately, if this program is successful the lights might be off for a lot more than one hour. The power grid is delicately balanced between generation and usage and a sudden change in the calculation on either side can cause cascading failures of the grid. Remember what happened on the east coast when one generating station tripped offline? It caused a sudden change in the electrical loads at other stations which caused failures that blacked out much of the eastern U.S. and took hours to fix.

Therefore, my suggestion is that those of us who refuse to buy the econut arguments should do our part to save the power grid by turning on all of our lights at 8pm. That way the nuts can have their little "feel good" energy party and the rest of us will still have power when the hour is up.