Earth Hour... Anyone else signing up?

[Tribble]

It must have been awesome.

[spearone]

None of my neighbours did it

[Jonboy]

Okay, so having followed this thread, there seem to be a number of confused people. This was NOT an effort to conserve electricity, do you know how ridiculous that would be? It had NOTHING to do with marketing. Those of you who've bandied this term about, what on earth do you think they're trying to sell? Light bulbs? Torches? Generators? It was an AWARENESS drive, plain and simple. In the end, it was a way of saying to people, "are you aware that if you can switch off your lights when not in use, we can save about 400MW in one hour? Have any of you driven around the Sandton CBD at night and seen that every single light is left on? Whatever for?

[rustypup]

It had NOTHING to do with marketing.

this has everything to do with marketing...

Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming...
Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

what they're selling here is some half-arsed attempt at creating awareness around consumption... which is, quite frankly retarded. consumption will not be decreasing anytime soon - quite the opposite.

if we really want to "vote earth" we'd stop reproducing like rabbits... this will resolve all manner of issues, not least of which is our rate of consumption... oh, but that's a very unpopular stance - let's go for something easy... like switching our lights off for an hour... that'll get the message through..

ok, yes... so, with no entertainment available, we probably encouraged a few million more pregnancies, but.. hey... it's all about awareness... right?

change comes from resolving the waste which mounts during production... this is where the major issue lies. targeting consumption is very, very, short sighted... but wonderfully simple and probably not going to ruffle any feathers...

Have any of you driven around the Sandton CBD at night and seen that every single light is left on?

crime? go ask those companies to please turn their lights out at night - i'd be interested to hear the reasoning... aside from the advertising aspects...

[hamin_aus]

At least we are trying!

You switched your lights off for an hour....

Why not have another Earth Hour at 4AM On a week night - then I'll definitely participate.

[po10cy]

lol we switched our lights off at 8:30, or well i was visiting a friend who did, we ended up lying outside by the pool smoking hubbly, was pretty cool and a cloudless night.

[hamin_aus]

If hospitals were run by Landover Baptists...

Fifteen Patients Die as Earth Hour Kills Life Support in Hospital

Fifteen patients on life support and in surgery died at San Francisco General Hospital when power was cut for "Earth hour" on Saturday.

The hospital was pleased with their participation in the worldwide celebration of the planet. "We asked all the patients and their families if they were all right with us cutting the power. To a person, they all said as stewards of this planet it was their duty to observe Earth Hour. They knew the risks and were willing to take it," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.

Cho said that it was a net gain for planet Earth, despite the deaths. "The dead patients will no longer use any energy, and actually will be turned into energy in our patient incinerator," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.

As power was cut in the critical care ward some patients screamed in pain, others died calmly in their sleep. Cho said that most of the medical equipment has battery-powered back up systems, but those were disabled, because hospital officials felt that violated the spirit of Earth Hour.
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Heart surgeon Dr. Gregory Morris was doing an open-heart procedure when the lights went out. "I wasn't sure what I was cutting into. Turns out it wasn't his heart, but his bowels. Unfortunately, Mr. Simms didn't make it."

Marla Tompkins, surviving sister of cancer patient Warren Tompkins, said, "Warren struggled for breath as his ventilator was powered down. I thought he might make it, but with three minutes left before power was to be turned back on, he expired. It was tragic, but kept me on the edge of the seat the whole time."
Cho hopes other hospitals learn from the example of San Francisco General and participate in next year's Earth Hour.

[Prime]

This will shut the lot of you up

South Africans who participated in Earth Hour on Saturday saved about 400 MW of electricity, 400 t of carbon dioxide, 224 t of coal and about 576 000 l of water, power utility Eskom reported on Monday.

Earth Hour was organised by the World Wildlife Fund in an effort to get one-billion people worldwide to switch off their lights for one hour.

“The 400 MW translates to about four-million 100 W bulbs or 6,7-million 60 W bulbs switched off on Saturday. This shows a concerted effort by about one-million households,” said Eskom MD corporate services and Eskom climate change champion Dr Steve Lennon.

Lights on average consumed about 10% of household electricity, whereas geysers used as much as 40% of the total electricity bill, commented Lennon, highlighting the difference that could have been made if South Africans had also turned off their geysers during Earth Hour.

“We believe that the Earth Hour initiative has created incredible excitement around the need for efficient use of energy. As South Africa’s primary supplier of electricity, our hope is that all South Africans harness this excitement and use energy wisely every day of the year,” said Lennon.

City of Johannesburg member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment Prema Naidoo also on Monday applauded the Earth Hour initiative.

“We hope that this symbolic gesture has demonstrated to the world that people everywhere are concerned about this issue, and are willing to act,” he commented.

Naidoo expressed the need for people to take action against climate change and global warning now, saying that it hoped government’s National Energy Efficiency Campaign would be supported by every individual, business and energy player.

“Here in South Africa, we have unique reasons to be concerned about the energy issue. It is not widely understood that the production of electricity produces enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases. As a result of our habits of energy wastage, we have become the eleventh highest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the world, he said.

the average coal power station in SA can produce 4000Watts.

[hamin_aus]

400 MW of electricity, 400 t of carbon dioxide, 224 t of coal and about 576 000 l of water, power utility Eskom reported on Monday.

All of which was diverted to heavy industry.

[rustypup]

This will shut the lot of you up

unless they turned one of the power stations off without announcing it to all and sundry, the honourable chop declaring a "saving" is being yet another retard punting the lie... carbon emmissions were not reduced one iota through this stunt... not one...

prove to me the surplus power is sitting in a capacitor somewhere waiting to be reused and i'll eat my tartan kilt..

[Prime]

400 MW of electricity, 400 t of carbon dioxide, 224 t of coal and about 576 000 l of water, power utility Eskom reported on Monday.

All of which was diverted to heavy industry.

Saturday night? I don't think so.

This will shut the lot of you up

unless they turned one of the power stations off without announcing it to all and sundry, the honourable chop declaring a "saving" is being yet another retard punting the lie... carbon emmissions were not reduced one iota through this stunt... not one...

prove to me the surplus power is sitting in a capacitor somewhere waiting to be reused and i'll eat my tartan kilt..

The load drops, so therefore less energy is removed from the station. therefore while in practice you are still burning coal, this coal lasts longer because you are not removing 400MW of energy from the system.

[DreamStar]

you know eskom should have planned loadshedding that day for that hour...

[hamin_aus]

Saturday night? I don't think so.

Oh yes, I forgot - the mines shut down on weekends

[rustypup]

The load drops, so therefore less energy is removed from the station.

now ask yourself how much energy it takes to get the turbine spinning at normal usage again... you're doubling the consumption... net effect - zero. zip. nadda..

ask someone working at any of the local coal-burners how coal consumption peaked during "load shedding" periods.. not to mention the mountain of coal required to get the turbine's moving again..

@DreamStar: the above applies to your suggestion as well...

[Kher-za]

I was at the Earth Hour event held at the Waterfront in the sense that i walked past it and got hugged by somebody dressed as a panda campaigning for the WWF.

Was funny to see people burning candles in their flats and then just before 10pm switch the lights back on. Some people don't even get it.

OOOH I did my one hour hey.

[Tribble]

Kher-za, good for you. It starts with a little....

[Kher-za]

I was being sarcastic
Most evenings were spent with a candle while i was living in the city simply because it sets a relaxed mood, as I am typing this i have dual monitors burning holes in my retinas though. time to make up for that electricity i saved.

BTW i know a few people, albeit not personally, living in the cape flats who use gas to shed some light on their crap situation. They are doing their part for me.

[Tribble]

Wow - with optimists in the world like you - we are sure to survive

[KillerByte]

For teh first time ever I agreed with Rusty 100%.

He is absolutely correct that this was all marketing. It was a complete waste of time since the drain on the system WAS huge when every one turned their lights back on. In fact I read one site that said that power plants in the US had to increase output just to handle the switch-on load.

Nuclear power might not be the best answer but its the best answer for now. What happened to the Pebble Bed Reactor? Wasn't that a South African initiative? As far as I know the hippies were jumping up and down waving their hands in the air because they supposedly cared. Coal harms the environment. Solar, Wind and Hydro produce insignificant amounts of power if you take into account how much power a country uses.
Then documentaries talk stats and say things like "this wind farm produces enough power to power 25, 000 homes" its a joke. 25k homes?! average household is 4/5 people. That's 100 000 people, that's a drop in the ocean.

Nuclear power is the answer until fusion becomes a reality. I would not have a problem with a Nuclear power plant being within the city limits. The chance of a nuclear disaster is nothing compared to the chance of me getting lung diseases because of a coal burning power plant.


So ends my rant---

[Drakonis]

I really can't see the point this Earth Hour stuff. It's mostly to make people who drive cars/buses/camels/ostriches/whatever and contribute to carbon emissions/global warming/[insert environmental scare tactic here] feel better about themselves without actually doing anything constructive.
The Earth is in no danger, we're the ones who're potentially smoked on this one, to paraphrase George Carlin. I have no time for saving the planet, it'll take a lot more than the human race to get rid of life on this little blue and green orb.

If the people dreaming up these initiatives were a bit more realistic i.e. Save the Human Race from Self-Induced Annihilation, I may give a turd. Possibly. Actually, not really. A lot of us would be better off sitting on the blasted surface of a charred and smoking ruin of a planet.

*Wow I'm cynical today...*

[Furion]

Drakonis, My word your sig is freaky...

[Tribble]

Yes you are. You should know that any change starts with a small, insignificant step. If that succeeds - then we try a little bigger, more effective one. But I guess this was an absolute failure and I for one will not be sad to see the end of the human race

Now how is that for cynicism ?

[Drakonis]

Furion, er... Thanks? My little tribute to the end of the world..

H ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠E ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍AW̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕AIT҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖S IN̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟DARK҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉SS
̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖W̝̞̟̠ ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕TH̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉HIS ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉CRIES҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ̒̓̔̕̚ ̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̕̚̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜OF̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠DAR ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏K ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̔̕̚̕̚NED ̠̊̋̌̍̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠ ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋ ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍D ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̒̓̔̕̚ESPAIR ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋ ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋
HE COMES �̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚� � M͡҉ E҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ S~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡ ҉҉ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘Z̙̜̝̞̟̠� �̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌� �̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚� �# ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚ ҉҉ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ # ̎̏̐̑ ̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ͡҉҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ A̎̏̐̑L̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉G̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉

[Furion]

Furion, er... Thanks? My little tribute to the end of the world..

H ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠E ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍AW̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕AIT҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖S IN̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟DARK҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉SS
̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖W̝̞̟̠ ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕TH̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉HIS ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉CRIES҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ̒̓̔̕̚ ̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̕̚̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜OF̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠DAR ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏K ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̔̕̚̕̚NED ̠̊̋̌̍̎̏̚ ̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠ ̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋ ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍D ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏ ̒̓̔̕̚ESPAIR ̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓ ̔̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋ ̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞ ̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋
HE COMES �̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚� � M͡҉ E҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ S~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡ ҉҉ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘Z̙̜̝̞̟̠� �̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌� �̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚� �# ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚ ҉҉ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ # ̎̏̐̑ ̕̚̕̚ ̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ͡҉҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ A̎̏̐̑L̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉G̔̕̚̕̚҉ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ ̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍ ̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉

is astounded... and in awe

[hamin_aus]

So they are doing this crap again this month... which one of you nimrods are participating

Earth Hour Is a Colossal Waste of Time—And Energy

On the evening of March 23, 1.3 billion people will go without light at 8:30—and at 9:30, and at 10:30, and for the rest of the night—just like every other night of the year. With no access to electricity, darkness after sunset is a constant reality for these people.

At the same time, another 1 billion people will participate in “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights from 8:30-9:30.

The organizers say that they are providing a way to demonstrate one’s desire to “do something” about global warming. But the reality is that Earth Hour teaches all the wrong lessens, and it actually increases CO2 emissions. Its vain symbolism reveals exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good environmentalism.

Earth Hour teaches us that tackling global warming is easy. Yet, by switching off the lights, all we are doing is making it harder to see.

Notice that you have not been asked to switch off anything really inconvenient, like your heating or air-conditioning, television, computer, mobile phone, or any of the myriad technologies that depend on affordable, plentiful energy electricity and make modern life possible. If switching off the lights for one hour per year really were beneficial, why would we not do it for the other 8,759?

Hypothetically, switching off the lights for an hour would cut CO2 emissions from power plants around the world. But, even if everyone in the entire world cut all residential lighting, and this translated entirely into CO2 reduction, it would be the equivalent of China pausing its CO2 emissions for less than four minutes. In fact, Earth Hour will cause emissions to increase.

As the United Kingdom’s National Grid operators have found, a small decline in electricity consumption does not translate into less energy being pumped into the grid, and therefore will not reduce emissions. Moreover, during Earth Hour, any significant drop in electricity demand will entail a reduction in CO2 emissions during the hour, but it will be offset by the surge from firing up coal or gas stations to restore electricity supplies afterward.

And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels—and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Using one candle for each switched-off bulb cancels out even the theoretical CO2 reduction; using two candles means that you emit more CO2.

Electricity has given humanity huge benefits. Almost 3 billion people still burn dung, twigs, and other traditional fuels indoors to cook and keep warm, generating noxious fumes that kill an estimated 2 million people each year, mostly women and children. Likewise, just 100 years ago, the average American family spent six hours each week during cold months shoveling six tons of coal into the furnace (not to mention cleaning the coal dust from carpets, furniture, curtains, and bedclothes). In the developed world today, electric stoves and heaters have banished indoor air pollution.

Similarly, electricity has allowed us to mechanize much of our world, ending most backbreaking work. The washing machine liberated women from spending endless hours carrying water and beating clothing on scrub boards. The refrigerator made it possible for almost everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables, and to stop eating rotten food, which is the main reason why the most prevalent cancer for men in the United States in 1930, stomach cancer, is the least prevalent now.

Electricity has allowed us to irrigate fields and synthesize fertilizer from air. The light that it powers has enabled us to have active, productive lives past sunset. The electricity that people in rich countries consume is, on average, equivalent to the energy of 56 servants helping them. Even people in Sub-Saharan Africa have electricity equivalent to about three servants. They need more of it, not less.

This is relevant not only for the world’s poor. Because of rising energy prices from green subsidies, 800,000 German households can no longer pay their electricity bills. In the United Kingdom, there are now more than 5 million fuel-poor people, and the country’s electricity regulator now publicly worries that environmental targets could lead to blackouts in less than nine months.

Today, we produce only a small fraction of the energy that we need from solar and wind—0.7 percent from wind and just 0.1 percent from solar. These technologies currently are too expensive. They are also unreliable (we still have no idea what to do when the wind is not blowing). Even with optimistic assumptions, the International Energy Agency estimates that, by 2035, we will produce just 2.4 percent of our energy from wind and 0.8 percent from solar.

To green the world’s energy, we should abandon the old-fashioned policy of subsidizing unreliable solar and wind—a policy that has failed for 20 years, and that will fail for the next 22. Instead, we should focus on inventing new, more efficient green technologies to outcompete fossil fuels.

If we really want a sustainable future for all of humanity and our planet, we shouldn’t plunge ourselves back into darkness. Tackling climate change by turning off the lights and eating dinner by candlelight smacks of the “let them eat cake” approach to the world’s problems that appeals only to well-electrified, comfortable elites.

Focusing on green R&D might not feel as good as participating in a global gabfest with flashlights and good intentions, but it is a much brighter idea.