Southern California landmarks to join in “Earth Hour” event

Notable Southern California landmarks such as the glowing pylons at Los Angeles International Airport and the Queen Mary in Long Beach will go dark between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday night in observance of international "Earth Hour." 

Millions of people from more than 100 countries and territories are expected to participate in the event by switching off lights and nonessential appliances in order to conserve energy and demonstrate an awareness of environmental conservation.

At LAX, the 100-foot-tall pylons will glow solid green an hour before the event and then go dark, according to airport officials.  The color-changing LAX Gateway pylons were installed in August 2000. Five years later, airport workers installed a new system of LED fixtures that consume 75% less electricity than the previous lamps and burn for 75,000 to 100,000 hours, compared to 3,000 hours for the original lights, according to airport officials.

In Long Beach the Queen Mary's exterior lights will be turned off. The event will be accompanied by entertainment, such as the ship's captain answering historical questions and local competitive cyclists producing energy for a light display. Participants will also receive vendor giveaways. Hotel guests will be asked to turn off their nonessential stateroom lights.

In Santa Monica, the famous Pacific Wheel on the city's pier will go dark. The ferris wheel's emergency lights will remain on.

At the Home Depot Center in Carson, in partnership with Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, will turn off all nonessential lighting of the 27,000-seat soccer stadium, including all lighting in the venue's 42 luxury suites, according to AEG, the company that owns and operates the venue. The Chivas will be hosting the Colorado Rapids.

Other AEG facilities throughout the state will also participate, including LA Live, the entertainment hub in downtown Los Angeles.

Earth Hour is organized by World Wide Fund, one of the world's largest independent conservation organizations, and started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for an hour to stand against climate change, according to its website. A year later the event became a global movement. In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4,000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support. This year, Earth Hour is challenging people to go beyond the hour and think of other ways to make a difference after the lights go on.

-- Ruben Vives

Comments

[My opinon means nothing]

THIS IS A JOKE! The only reason this companies are "diming" their lights is to make a showy display to the world. "Oh, look at us. We're green because we dimmed our lights for an hour." C'mon. If 'going green' were not the in thing to do they wouldn't do it at all. After it's done, they'll all turn their lights on as big and bright as they were before, wasting as much energy as they were before until next year when they'll all do it again. Nothing changes like change.

[zygion]

I am going catch up on my podcasts in the dark.

[David Ben-Sun]

This event is a pathetic admission that the corporate oligarchy controls the planet. Everyone understands that we're destroying our environment, but the only thing we can do about it is make meaningless gestures while the greedy swine in control continue to rape the planet for their own enrichment. Go ahead and turn off the lights for an hour. It'll help you get accustomed to not having any power.

[donnzpg]

That should read "World Wildlife Fund."

[Amy Alkon]

It's turn out the lights night in the daffy state of California. This much like those silly "put on a red ribbon to stop some disease" days. (Scientific research, not uglying up your outfit with a safety-pinned-on ribbon, is what cures or halts disease.)

Sure, I try to save energy and conserve in general (I drive a 2004 Honda Insight hybrid and spent $198 on gas for all of 2010), but this is just a ridiculous idea that will make people feel like they're doing something -- for an hour -- while making the Santa Monica Pier gloomy and unspectacular and making it less cool to go onto Lincoln and drive north from the airport. Meanwhile, It's 2011 and I've got the lights on here, and the computer all aglow, and I am in no mood to churn butter, spin wool into a sweater if I'm cold, or go milk a cow when I want a piece of cheese.

[GEAH]

I turned on every single light in my house from 8:30 to 9:30 to protest this nonsense.

[Heyooo!]

I love reading about stories hat accomplish nothing

[Odysseus]

A small gesture for a city that seems to fly in the face of conservation. How ironic is it that in the same city where LACMA recently ran an exhibit that featured hundreds of old streetlights being lit night after night for no other reason than art for art's sake, and couldn't bother with incorporating some kind of solar hook-up to make the exhibit not seem archaic and arrogant, is now going to honor the Earth hour with a small gesture.

[Aaron]

WWF stands for "World Wildlife Fund" not "World Wide Fund"

[Daniel]

Hmm... So the point of the environmental movement is to reduce everyone to such a level that electricity lights up the night?

Just another example of image over reality. I would be alot more impressed if the same environmentalists who promote this silly activity weren't blocking solar power development of california's deserts.

[lisa]

Oh brother.... is this a spoof article.
Superficial, feel-good gestures (or is it jesters) do nothing but make people think they have done their duty. Sort of reminds me of a religious observance.

[Lanche]

Starting early by turning all my lights on and the heat up until after this goofy hour passes. Liberals are the biggest hypocrites / backwards people this world has ever seen. How bout you go back to the stone age and live in your caves and heat yourself with campfires. You are blights on society and I am hoping that we have enough technology to move you and your Green power sources to Mars soon.

[Jess]

Oh Wow.

Like this will really make a difference to the environment.

Lame, lame, lame.

[Jack]

Good start, but we need an 80% cut in C02 levels to avoid serious climate change. And even then, things may get really bad for a lot of people.

[Zandar the space alien]

Wow earthlings. Progress. To save yourselves. Congratulations.