Saturday, March 29, 2008
“EARTH HOUR” ABBREVIATED IS “EH”
Canadians would buy leprosy if someone told them it was good for the environment. They’re even worse than Australians:
For some reason the entire country has gone a bit crazy over Earth Hour. Earlier this week more people had signed up for it online in Canada than in the entire United States, with ten times the population. The US has slipped ahead by a few thousand right now, but in Canada one in 606 citizens is on board; in the US it is one in 5,347.
Problem for those unlit Canadians - there’s a big hockey game:
It’s just highly unlikely Leaf Nation and Habs fans will turn off their televisions one period into Hockey Night in Canada.
Montreal would have to score five goals in 20 minutes for it to have a hope in Hades - and the environmental footprint of replacing thousands of televisions thrown through Ontario windows would outweigh any conservation headway.
Montreal illuminophobes will find themselves particularly torn:
An ethical question: Is a television set tuned to the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game an essential appliance?
This will be the conundrum facing Montrealers who want to be green and participate in Earth Hour tomorrow night, but don’t want to miss a minute of a game with their beloved Canadiens.
Our man in Toronto will keep us informed. Meanwhile:
It’s curious that Ontario residents are voluntarily turning their lights off tonight. Remember the near-panic that gripped this province during the blackout of August 2003?