Lights, Earth, Action.

Post Earth Hour, I received some emails and phone calls from friends and family asking if there really is a point to Earth Hour or if we are fooling ourselves into thinking that we can do something about the climate change problem. Some people went on to criticize the event as another meaningless fad of pseudo-intellectuals pretending to care about the world and its problems.

In India, people thought the whole idea was pointless given the number of power-cuts in the country anyway. They didn't need an Earth Hour when they are already suffering an Earth Life. Still, some places are turning off power on May 3rd. I wonder why India chose a different date from the rest of the world.

Today morning I received an email from my brother with a link to an article on Time. He said:

Happened to run into this article on TIME... makes me wonder how real change can happen. Are we saving pennies while someone loots our bank?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1725947,00.html?cnn=yes

To sum up the article in a few words it says:

Given that the entire world emits around 27 billion tons of CO2 each year through transportation, electricity use, deforestation., there's very little that any of us can do on an individual level to stop climate change. What is one hour of saving electricity going to achieve when even by living like monks for the rest of our lives, we'll barely scratch the surface.

Still, Earth Hour is important as a symbolic gesture, to collectively make a statement about our commitment to solving the problem of climate change.

The only way to truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to take the pressure off global warming, is an international regime that puts a cap and a price on climate pollution. And the only way that will happen is if politicians around the world become convinced that climate change is an issue that matters to people, one that will make them change the way they live, buy — and vote.

The environmental movement is reaching a delicate moment. We're well past the point where just doing your bit to save the Earth deserves endless praise. But this is the moment when we need to keep pushing in every way we can. The technologies that will help us decarbonize energy are developing, but they need a push — and that will only happen if we keep climate change near the top of our political agenda. Earth Hour, Earth Day, Earth Year — we'll need it all.

The article sums up how I feel about the event. I don't see Earth Hour as a solution, but as a symbol of concern, of hope. I see people coming together from all over the world, wanting to do something about the environment... anything that makes sense, that puts the issue on the political agenda. I see Earth Hour as a gesture that symbolizes people's commitment to energy conservation. It is a first step of many steps, a reminder of what is important and a celebration of humanity and unity as people come together with one concern that affects all of them, irrespective of where they live on the globe. Perhaps switching off the lights, using public transport, recycling products is not enough. There is more to be done. But by starting here and showing how much it means to us, we hope to make this a priority and eventually find a solution.

As far as not finding a need to celebrate Earth Hour in India goes, somehow the power cuts don't seem to help with our country's ecological footprint. With a .8 gha, we may be lower than the world average but it is still higher than the nation's bio-capacity. This is after the compulsory load shedding being thrust on us. According to WWF’s Living Planet Report ranked India 3rd on the list of ‘ecological deficit’ countries with 802 million gha.

India hosts about 1% of the world’s forests and 2.2% of land mass but is home for 16% (1.3 billion) of the world population. The recorded forests in the country are about 77.5 million ha or 23.6% of land area. Although forest cover in India in 2003 was higher than previous estimates, the dense forests (canopy density above 40%) continue to be lost at a higher rate (1.3 million ha/year). Conversion of forests for non-forest purposes is one of the key factors in these changes. Globally, the forest loss is about 16 million ha per year and the conversion of forests in the world’s critical eco-regions can lead to irreversible changes in ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. Source Panda.org

You may call this irony but I see this as as all the more reason for us to participate in Earth Hour. Moreover, as global citizens, we should see energy conservation as a world problem not as a problem of one nation. After all, with every other problem in our country related to poverty, we look to other countries for support and hope that they will empathize with our situation and help us in whatever way they can. And then, switching off the lights for an hour is a symbolic gesture of concern, its not an act to conserve energy within that one hour, so I don't see how regular power-cuts can come in the way of demonstrating that you care (if you care).

In fact I would urge countries doing well energy-wise to participate too and lead by example!