Calgary energy consumption up during Earth hour - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

burn_this_city · 03-31-2008, 07:35 AM

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...a-18b4c31dd910

I did my part.. Turned on every light in my house before I headed to the dome for the game..

Dan02 · 03-31-2008, 07:38 AM

love the quote from the broad.

Quote:

"I know there's a lot of apathy in Calgary," she added. "We saw the results of the latest (provincial) election with the low voter turnout."

I don't think it had anything to do with apathy, but a lot more of people realizing it for the waste of time it was. That and the Flames game.

ken0042 · 03-31-2008, 07:47 AM

I'd be curious to see Edmonton's numbers; the other city that would have been affected by the game being on.

Also, how much juice does it take to run the Saddledome? That's gotta be in the 100,000's of watts.

The Goon · 03-31-2008, 08:03 AM

I was thinking about it while sitting at the Saddledome - "Wouldn't this game offset hundreds of homes trying to cut down on energy use?"

SeeGeeWhy · 03-31-2008, 08:10 AM

Crap. I knew we should have powered the saddledome by burning Oiler Fans instead of going to the grid.

browna · 03-31-2008, 08:16 AM

When else did they expect everyone to plug in their electric cars?

HotHotHeat · 03-31-2008, 08:23 AM

I can almost see the steam coming out of David Suzuki's ears.

Flashpoint · 03-31-2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I can almost see the steam coming out of David Suzuki's ears.

I actually found him to be pretty funny at the start of Hockey Night.

burn_this_city · 03-31-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I can almost see the steam coming out of David Suzuki's ears.

I hope that steam was produced using eco-friendly fuels..

Enmax should have skipped his cheesy commericals on the jumbotron as their contribution to Earth hour.

4X4 · 03-31-2008, 08:35 AM

The Calgary Flames did their part by avoiding scoring in the first and second, thus keeping the lights off.

TurnedTheCorner · 03-31-2008, 08:36 AM

Awesome, go Calgary!

mykalberta · 03-31-2008, 08:49 AM

Oh no, some Euro UN BS earth hour where I was supposed to turn off my computer and electricity sucking plasma TV for what, so I can have a false sense of goodness that it made some sort of bigger difference.

Give me a break. Classic new era Franco-German dogma.

Tyler · 03-31-2008, 09:34 AM

nm

Russic · 03-31-2008, 09:57 AM

How very Calgary of us! Can't say I'm too shocked. Most of the people I talked to about it seem to have it in their minds that the purpose of this exercise was to actually make a difference rather than be symbolic. Not trying to preach or anything here . . . I was at the flames game praying that the two big gas fed fire machines would erupt a few more times.

peter12 · 03-31-2008, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

How very Calgary of us! Can't say I'm too shocked. Most of the people I talked to about it seem to have it in their minds that the purpose of this exercise was to actually make a difference rather than be symbolic. Not trying to preach or anything here . . . I was at the flames game praying that the two big gas fed fire machines would erupt a few more times.

Awareness and symbolism mean nothing if they don't make an actual difference. That's why the whole exercise was so ridiculous. What was the point in an individual sacrificing their consumption if it made no positive impact upon the environment.

I am all for conservation and protecting our natural environments, but Earth Hour was ridiculous BS. The popular environmental movement still needs to get its act together.

4X4 · 03-31-2008, 10:29 AM

I agree with peter12. I don't have an idea off the top of my head of a better way to do something like this, but for the hell of it, I'll give an example of a symbolic gesture that actually makes a difference.
Anybody ever do that 30 Hour Famine back in the day? I used to (have) to do it every year. We'd go around knocking on doors for sponsorship and then have to go without food for an entire day. It was usually a big sleepover with the church youth group or with schoolmates.
After you were done, you'd collect all the sponsorship money that (assumably) goes and buys food for starving people.

I don't want to debate whether the people at World Vision are on the up and up or whether there are religious undertones involved. Just saying that that sort of symbolic gesture has results that get felt.

The concept of earth hour is as useless as those stupid gas boycotts that circle around email inboxes from time to time. The idea is that everyone is supposed to refrain from buying gas on the same day in protest of gas prices.
Brilliant. If I don't buy gas today, I'm going to buy it tomorrow, in a greater amount.

So turning off your electricity and furnace and everything for an hour is only going to result in a spike in usage the next hour. It's as stupid as Kyoto.

peter12 · 03-31-2008, 10:38 AM

It's pretty funny how the purpose of these popular environmental global events is to make people consume less. That's important and will be the central tenet of any successful environmental policy.

However, that's not what will lead us to saving the environment or giving us the will to engage in a difficult and self-reflective process about our place in nature. Only a LOVE of the environment can give us the impetus and things like Earth Hour just... don't do that. I don't give a poop about wetlands when I sit in my cold, dark house on a Saturday night.

Azure · 03-31-2008, 10:54 AM

Pretty poor time to do it.

And a stupid idea too. Can't believe there are actually people who think it makes a difference to go without power for an hour.

But if it does.....I was without power for a week a couple years ago during a snowstorm. So I did my part.

RougeUnderoos · 03-31-2008, 11:00 AM

I don't really get the whole "ha ha ha, I used even more, so take that Suzuki" attitude. I'm sure we all realize we live on the same planet. This consumption for the sake of consumption affects you too. Knowingly, gleefully wasting isn't really much different than, umm, wetting the bed because you are mad at your wife. Sure it makes her uncomfortable, but you'll be suffering too.

peter12 · 03-31-2008, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I don't really get the whole "ha ha ha, I used even more, so take that Suzuki" attitude. I'm sure we all realize we live on the same planet. This consumption for the sake of consumption affects you too. Knowingly, gleefully wasting isn't really much different than, umm, wetting the bed because you are mad at your wife. Sure it makes her uncomfortable, but you'll be suffering too.

Yeah, I agree. It's petty and equally irrational.