Landmark lights go out for an hour in support of Earth
When the lights go down in the city — especially when the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid go dark — it doesn’t have anything to do with rock ’n’ roll, but with the survival of planet Earth.
At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the lights went dark for one hour at several Bay Area landmarks, along with other icons around the world, as part of an annual observance known as Earth Hour that’s intended to call attention to climate change.
Also going dark were the Empire State Building in New York, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Las Vegas Strip, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Acropolis.
Organizers said this year’s observance took on special significance with the change in presidential administrations. President Trump, who once called the concept of global warming a hoax, has proposed deep funding cuts in U.S. efforts to reduce climate change. His budget director called such spending “a waste of your money.”
“Cities, companies and the American people need to pick up the mantle of leadership on climate action,” said Lou Leonard, vice president of the World Wildlife Fund, an organizer of the event. “Movements matter.”
Leonard called for a “new model of leadership” in which “engaged citizens and responsible corporate leaders” take on the job of battling climate change if the president’s priorities lie elsewhere.
Just two days before the observance of Earth Hour, California environmental regulators took a stand against the president’s push to ease greenhouse gas regulations on automakers, signaling a potential battle with the White House.
In a unanimous vote, the California Air Resources Board moved to issue stricter tailpipe emissions regulations and require that more zero-emissions vehicles be sold. Environmentalists cheered the vote, though Trump has hinted that he will work to weaken such strict mandates.
Earth Hour began in 2007 when the Sydney Opera House went dark and has since spread around the world, although not without some opposition.
This year, more than 170 countries and territories participated in the event as a gesture to signal their support for greater climate protections. Places without significant landmarks to darken will show solidarity by turning off the lights in entire cities, homes, universities and businesses.
Opponents of Earth Hour have suggested celebrating the wonders of electricity instead. The Ayn Rand Institute, a think tank dedicated to promoting the philosophy espoused by the conservative author, suggested that Earth Hour fans “try spending a month shivering in the dark without heating, electricity, refrigeration ... or life-saving products that industrial energy makes possible.”
Leonard said Earth Hour is not a protest against energy use, but a symbolic moment for people around the world to “stop, reflect and have a conversation.”
Other buildings that planned to turn off their lights Saturday were the Warfield, the Regency Ballroom and the 505 and 545 Sansome buildings, all in San Francisco, and the headquarters of HewlettPackard in Palo Alto.
Earth Hour is not the only unusual thing happening on the Golden Gate Bridge this weekend. Early Sunday, three lanes of the bridge will be closed to traffic to enable tens of thousands of runners to cross the span as part of the Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon. The bridge traffic pattern should return to normal by late morning.