Street lights to be shut off along Main Street on Saturday night as Ann Arbor observes Earth Hour
The city of Ann Arbor is encouraging residents and businesses to observe “Earth Hour” on Saturday and turn off all unnecessary lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Street lights along Main Street, between Huron and William, will be turned off as a demonstration of Ann Arbor’s commitment to fighting greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, in addition to practicing year-round energy conservation at municipal buildings and street fixtures, city officials said. Municipal facilities also will observe “lights out” procedures for non-essential illumination during Earth Hour, city officials said.
For public safety reasons, other street lights and traffic lights will not be turned off during the Earth Hour observance, city officials said.
"Participating in the global Earth Hour demonstrates Ann Arbor’s commitment to supporting energy-efficient practices to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and help reverse the effects of climate change," Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said in a statement.
Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign and has grown into a grassroots initiative with participants across the globe. Ann Arbor joined the effort in 2008 as one of 371 cities in 35 countries to participate in Earth Hour.
Participating residents and businesses can officially sign up at www.earthhour.org. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lighting accounts for about 22 percent of U.S. electricity consumption and is a significant contributor to the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Ann Arbor businesses and residents wishing to display a flier in their windows to show support for the event can download a poster under “Tools and Downloads” at www.earthhour.org. Information on the city’s energy goals is available at www.a2gov.org/energy.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.
Comments
f4phantomII
Fri, Mar 25, 2011 : 6:30 p.m.
Symbolism over substance, it's the liberal way. What a bunch of blather.
BobbyJohn
Fri, Mar 25, 2011 : 6:13 p.m.
First, let's get the city to alert DTE about all the city lights on during daylight hours every single day. This will save more energy and send out a better, larger message thanthis 1 hour publicity stunt. Do things that really matter (and it is simple, too; city workers drive down every street in town, have them tell the city energy guy, Andrew Brix; he can alert DTE weekly)
xmo
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 8:19 p.m.
Is this for real? This has got to be a joke? It is not even April Fool's Day yet but the Mayor and annarbor.com are pulling our leg. Come on it's a joke? This is no SCIENTIFIC evidence to support climate change.
man utd
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 3:52 a.m.
want to save energy, turn off all of the stop lights along Main and put up 4-way Stop signs. Seriously, when was the time anyone got through there without having to stop at just about every single one of those lights anyway? It may actually move traffic along faster.
Allencic
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 2:55 a.m.
Another pointless enviro-pagan ritual to appease Gaia.
lester88
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 2:10 a.m.
Yes! I agree with everyone who has posted. Let's start questioning all these eco-expensive idealogical initiatives that only a handful of cities across the world find important. 371 communities in 35 countries? Wow, what an accomplishment. E-85 fuel pumps, natural gas filling station, LED lights, solar panels and expensive hybrid trucks top it off with a green belt and a LEED certified tin can of a building. All "earth friendly" as they say but will never pay for themselves. Blowing tax dollars on it all too. Way to go John!
joe.blow
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 12:22 a.m.
If Ann Arbor really wants to help the planet, they should ditch this worthless gesture and actually do something. How about this, time the stoplights in this town to actually let you to travel a few blocks without slamming on the breaks to only throttle it to slam on the breaks for the next light. Do you know how much gas this city wastes by it's poor traffic planning?
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 4:04 a.m.
I don't know where Ann Arbor found its traffic engineers, but the concept of timing lights is definitely not something they were trained for, or have learned.
man utd
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 3:47 a.m.
JB ... I fully agree with you on this one!
Moscow On The Huron
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 11:09 p.m.
Earth Hour is observed by having people stumbling into each other?
jns131
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.
Nope, they will just flash each other with their flash lights. ha ha ha
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 10:18 p.m.
Earth Hour is back. Or, as the criminals call it, Christmas!
Urban Sombrero
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 10:12 p.m.
AnnArbor.com headline Sunday, "Unprecedented, One-Hour Crime Wave Hits Main Street As Lights Are Turned Off To Celebrate Earth Day."
Halter
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 10:06 p.m.
Absolutely ridiculous - and one of the ongoing reasons I didn't vote for ANY of our current Council members, nor will I vote for them in the future. It's a waste of time, money, and ridiculous to do that on the busiest tourist night of the week in downtown Ann Arbor.
Mark
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 9:54 p.m.
Earth Hour is a farce. If enough people participate, the electrical grid will belch out even more carbon to compensate for the energy spike when everyone is done. Just reduce your consumption year round, and stop making true environmentally minded people have to distance themselves from participants in this crap.
Roy Munson
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 8:41 p.m.
How about instead of shutting off the lights in the busiest part of town on the busiest night at the busiest time, they save the "evil/harmful" emissions from the vehicles that are transporting the meter maids around town that night?
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:47 p.m.
Thanks for the reminder to turn on all my lights and appliances at that time Saturday. "Earth Hour" is silly environmental tokenism at best. At worst, it's a repudiation of one of the single biggest contributor to why we don't all live short, sick lives. You want to save the environment? Lobby for passively safe nuclear power development to replace dirty coal power plants and aging old design nuclear power.
Garrett
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 2:49 p.m.
Haha! Nuclear! Good one!
Ignatz
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 8:49 p.m.
Japan has a nuke power plant we can get on the cheap. Additional savings!
g0ttin
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:29 p.m.
Right, turn off the lights on one of the busiest areas of town on one of the busiest nights of the week. It's not energy saving anything and is creating a hazard. How about doing something that makes a difference?
grye
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:27 p.m.
If they want to save energy, reduce greenhouse gases, stop climate change, save the whales, and ________ (add your own item here), do this for several hours every day.
yohan
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:17 p.m.
Just more of Hieftje's greenwash
Tom Whitaker
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:05 p.m.
But don't expect a credit on the light bill from DTE... Remember last year when the city administrator suggested turning off a bunch of streetlights around the city to save money? Well, he forgot to check with DTE first, which collects a lump payment for street lighting. DTE refused to offer any reduction in the payment. I wonder how much it cost the City to go out and unscrew those light bulbs and then go back and screw them in again? And they called US "dim bulbs."
Beverly Klooster
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 7:01 p.m.
How about Blue lights on April 1 for Autism Awareness Day?
jns131
Thu, Mar 24, 2011 : 1:45 p.m.
Look like a fool on April Fools? Maybe celebrate the New Year then too? Great ideas to run a light on downtown Main street. Not.
AA
Wed, Mar 23, 2011 : 6:59 p.m.
What a crock of saved energy.