SESSION 11: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 1ST APRIL
WORLD PREPARES TO SAVE ENERGY FOR AN HOUR
Text taken and adapted from:
Millions of buildings around the globe will be dark for an hour on Saturday, March 28 as the third Earth Hour takes place. The event is organized by the World Wildlife Fund. It started in 2007 as a way of drawing attention to the dangers of climate change. The Earth Hour website says: "For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote - Switching off your lights as a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming." Organizers hope their message will reach a billion people. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Earth Hour promises to be "the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted."
Not everyone agrees that Earth Hour will help. Many see it as being too little, too late and that not much will change when the lights are switched back on. Climate campaigner Clive Hamilton says: "We are well past the time for feel-good exercises aimed at raising awareness... It´s like the band playing on as the Titanic sinks." He says the event is risky because the next morning people will think the climate has recovered a little. "Symbolism is powerful if it leads to action, but dangerous if it substitutes for it," he says. Environmentalist Mark Alexander-Warne agrees. He stresses the need to reduce our daily energy consumption, rather than simply "sitting around in the dark" for an hour.
'World prepares to save energy for an hour' - 26th March, 2009
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