Amen, and this includes Westmount and the other municipalities on the island. As long as we try to keep up this unsustainable lifestyle with token recognition of where our wealth comes from (the Earth), this charade will continue. No amount of switching to “alternative” fuels or replacing incandescent light bulbs for CFC bulbs will solve the problem. It’s more structural than that.

For the record, I will head to the summit on Westmount, for this hour, to see some stars, if that’s possible.

Source: Montreal Gazette

The city of Montreal will be an enthusiastic participant in Earth Hour this evening. Officials will switch off the lights at city hall and a few other municipal buildings, and the cross on Mount Royal will go dark for one hour beginning at 8:30.

But what is Montreal doing during all the other 364 days and 23 hours of the year to try to halt the planet’s quick march toward catastrophic climate change?

“Earth Hour is a really important project as an awareness tool and I can only congratulate the city for joining in,” said André Porlier of the Conseil régionale de l’environnement de Montréal, a coalition of local environment groups.

“But is Montreal doing enough to reduce greenhouse gases? Not at all, in my opinion.”

Westmount and Montreal will recognize Earth hour where electricity is symbolically turned off for one hour. This event, which started in Syndney in 2007, is spreading around the world.

That’s nice, but how about us putting our heads together to design a street light that doesn’t need to burn 1,000 watts all hours of the night? Earth hour is just a small salve on the wound of living a life that is painfully unsustainable to those who have a “Green” awareness.

I suppose awareness is the first step towards making a change. However, the economic realities coming will force people to become “Green” and “sustainable” simply becuase it’s a much less expensive way to live. Awareness won’t be a part of most people’s motivations for this change. And so the band plays on…

For the record and if you interested in contributing to this symbol, the time to turn off your lights and TVs is: 8:30 p.m. on March 2.