Good Job Calgary!!!

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...cb62&k=5078

In the tiny community of Hartley Bay, members of the Gitga'at First Nation took Earth Hour seriously Saturday evening.

While in Victoria some diners ate by candlelight or turned off the television, for an unimpressive reduction in power consumption of 2.6 per cent, Hartley Bay managed 100 per cent.

"We are a community that is totally dependent on a diesel-run generator, so we didn't just turn out our lights, we decided to shut down the whole generator," said band councillor and school teacher Cam Hill.

"It was pretty cold, but everyone toughed it out."

About 70 people, out of a population of 120, gathered in the cultural centre for snacks and to talk about why the power had been shut off.

"We are trying to educate the kids," Hill said.

"We want to teach them that the world is changing and the change is being caused by us, so it's up to us to do something to fix it."

Even though Hartley Bay is a small community it can lead by example, Hill said.

Generator fuel costs in Hartley Bay are $500,000 a year and, to be green, the community should move to a hydro system, Hill said.

"I think it's something we have to do to make sure the environment is going to be looked after, but that will cost between $6 million and $8 million and, so far, we've only secured about $1 million," said Hill, who is hoping for help from government.

For other communities in B.C., Earth Hour was less dramatic.

Across the province, energy consumption dropped by two per cent, despite an early-spring cold snap that had some people turning up the thermostat, said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Gillian Robinson Riddell.

That means 125 megawatts was saved, indicating 2.5 million lights were turned off.

"It was completely voluntary and people were really making an effort, so that's pretty impressive," Robinson Riddell said.

"If British Columbians were to do that for one hour every night, it would save enough electricity to power more than 4,000 homes for an entire year."

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature, which spearheaded the event, did not have a standard way for measuring the result, meaning some cities, such as Toronto, took the lowest point in the hour.

B.C. Hydro decided a more accurate measurement was for the whole hour, Robinson Riddell said.

The B.C. prize for consumption reduction goes to North Vancouver, at seven per cent, followed by Coquitlam at 5.6 per cent. Vancouver came in at 3.5 per cent -- beating Victoria by almost a full percentage point.

On Vancouver Island, Ladysmith's energy consumption went down 4.4 per cent, Nanaimo 3.5 per cent and Saanich three per cent.

Calgary is the only known city in Canada where energy consumption actually went up during Earth Hour, a trend organizers pinned on colder weather and a late start locally in promoting the global event.

The jump in power use was small -- smaller, in fact, than a recent Saturday night bump -- but it was still a jump.

Other Canadian cities participating in Earth Hour that have tallied their power consumption, however, reported a drop in juice use.

Lucy Pasternak, who helped spearhead Calgary's participation in the event, said the upward trend was disappointing but not surprising considering she and others started organizing participation only three weeks ago.

A friend of hers heard about Earth Hour, a World Wildlife Fund event that asked people and businesses to turn out their lights from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday night.

That spurred the pair to start calling city officials and companies, but the relatively last-minute start meant fewer people jumping on board, Pasternak said.

"There wasn't as much appetite for something here like there was in Toronto," said the 29-year-old international relations major at the University of Calgary.

"I know there's a lot of apathy in Calgary," she added. "We saw the results of the latest (provincial) election with the low voter turnout."

Pasternak said she hoped a more concerted and drawn-out effort next year would mean more participation.

Calgary did see some high-profile light-dimming Saturday night, most notably at the Calgary Tower and several downtown buildings.

Still, energy consumption climbed from 1,050 megawatts at 7:45 p.m. to a peak of 1,072 megawatts at 8:30 p.m -- a spike of 2.1 per cent.

The previous Saturday night saw energy totals climb from 976 megawatts to 1,044 megawatts during the same time period.

That equalled a jump of nearly seven per cent -- higher than the Earth Hour increase -- though total power use was still less than it was Saturday night.

Vancouver, meanwhile, saw power use drop during the hour. Consumption was also around 3.5 per cent less than on a typical night in similar conditions.

Toronto's consumption fell by five per cent at the end of Earth Hour compared with an hour earlier. Compared to a typical late Saturday night in March, the power drain was 8.7 per cent less.

Montreal also saw a drop, though it was negligible, according to a Hydro Quebec spokeswoman.

Edmonton hasn't calculated its Earth Hour energy use yet.

Jinette Boulianne, an Enmax spokeswoman, said the fact energy use increased doesn't mean people didn't extinguish their bulbs.

"Shutting the lights maybe had an impact, but that could have been overridden by industry using power or people heating their homes," she said.

Indeed, Earth Hour was around 12 C colder than during the same period on the previous Saturday.

Julia Langer, director of the WWF's climate change program, said many of the 160 cities that signed up for the event had high-profile backing.

"Toronto, Sydney, Vancouver, Melbourne -- it captured the attention of politicians and others who threw their all into it," she said. "If that didn't happen in Calgary, that might explain why (consumption) didn't go down."

Ald. Brian Pincott, who helped push the city to join in by shutting off non-essential lighting at municipal buildings, said the late promotional start didn't help.

"(Calgarians) knew it was happening," he said. "Whether they actually watched the hockey game in the dark, I don't know."

The season's last Battle of Alberta, with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames vying for a playoff spot, started at 8 p.m.

[daisy16 0]

Hartley Bay Rocks!

Wish all people put more into it.

[trailmix 77]

[Krikit 1,164]

at the thread title.