A Badly Planned Earth Hour Sheds More Light

March 29, 2008 I had plans for the evening. I was supposed to be on a course but the course was cancelled and I didn't manage to come up with substitute plans. I found myself marking Earth Hour at home alone.

Earth Hour is a global event initiated by the World Wildlife Foundation. People around the world are asked to turn off all lights and electrical appliances for one hour between 8 and 9pm. Their intention is to bring awareness to the issue of climate change and our ability to take action.

The advantage of living in Calgary is that it isn't actually dark outside at 8pm. In fact, sunset is just after 8 with twilight ending at 8:40pm. I began Earth Hour by eating dinner and reading the newspaper in the fading light. I then attended to some Earthy household chores like pruning plants. After this was finished, I was at a loss for things to do. Understand that batteries and candles also consume energy and generate emissions indirectly and directly so I had resolved not to use them. The light filtering in from the street lamps was not enough to do anything useful by. Reading, watching TV, playing on the computer were not possible. My room mate arrived home and I explained Earth Hour to her. She went upstairs in the dark to make a phone call. I was left to sit and think in the dark.

I thought about Carol in Nepal with rotating blackouts. I wondered what life would be like here if we lived with blackouts every evening. I propose that life would be better. With power we entertain ourselves and the need for other people is reduced. Spending an hour without power would have been a lot more fun in the company of other people. There would have been games to play, stories to tell, and friendship to share. Faced with endless powerless evenings people would either build community or choose to go mad in the dark. Power brings us news from around the world over the internet and gives us the commmon experience of movies. We believe this creates a global community. Darkness will strengthen the local community. Perhaps we need to find a better balance.

Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22nd I wonder if we can last the day without power, without gasoline, without computers and actually talk to each other.

Dragon Boats

Honestly, all I know about this issue is what I read in the CBC article (see below). If the article reports correctly, then I'll side with the City on this one. I do like the Dragon Boat races - they draw a crowd and it's fun to sail with all that cheering in the background. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to ride a dragon in an ice cold river without a lifejacket. If the organizers can't deal with very basic safety concerns, they deserve to lose their licence. I'm also not in favour of cutting down hundreds of trees for a temporary viewing area. This could lead to erosion problems and seems totally unnecessary. There are plenty of places to watch the races from. As for the motorboat request, I think the Dragon Boat folks are just wimpy. Sailing schools across the country are in awe of the fact that Glenmore Sailing School has managed to teach sailing to hundreds of people each year without giving the instructors motor boats. Yes, that's right, one instructor, 5-10 boats with students and the instructor sails around and teaches. I say if GSS can do it, then the Dragon Boat guys should have no difficulty running things without motor boats. I mean they are on a fixed race course in a very small area. How hard can it be?

City safety concerns dock dragon boat races
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | 5:59 PM MT
CBC News
The city has revoked the permit for the annual Calgary Dragon Boat Festival, throwing the annual event into uncertainty.

Citing safety and environmental concerns, the city's recreation department pulled the permit for the Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation that has organized the races on the Glenmore reservoir since 1992.

The Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation has organized the races on the Glenmore reservoir since 1992.
(CBC)
"Things like not having enough life jackets for the participants that were in the race. Things like ambulance services not being able to get access to the reservoir if there was an accident," said Karen Young, a manager in the recreation department, Wednesday.

"We had unmanned lost-children's tents and first-aid tents, and we had some security issues with the beer gardens."

Young said the foundation also pushed for increased motorboat use on the water, as well as for the removal of 200 trees for a temporary viewing area.

The city has been trying to work out the issues with the foundation for the last two years, she said.

The city has given the foundation 60 days to remove its equipment and dragon boats from the reservoir.
(CBC)
Shawn Samol, head of the dragon boat foundation, accused the city of caving in to pressure from other groups.

"There's push-backs, maybe by other user groups saying that well, we don't think there's enough room for our endeavours and therefore we maybe don't want dragon boating around there," he said.

The cancellation of the permit means the foundation can no longer use the reservoir for racing or practising. Samol said he received news of the city's decision earlier this month and was given 60 days to remove about a dozen boats from the reservoir.

Teams raise money for charity
The event draws 50,000 spectators and 3,000 competitors every year, according to the foundation's website.

Several dragon boats in the annual event raise money for charity, including the Children's Wish Foundation, which received $40,000 from racers in 2007.

"In addition to the funds that were raised in 2007, these teams have been engaged with us for a number of years and we have seen significant windfall of revenue as a result of that support," said the charity's chapter director Jason Evanson.

The city said other community groups could take over running the dragon boat races, while Samol said he's working on finding a different venue.