I thought I was done with Earth Hour-related posts, but then I came across this article at the National Post while reading Larry’s blog. You really need to give it a read, but here’s a bit of a teaser:
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four invoked the nightmare of “thoughtcrime,” by which dictators sought to erase even the possibility of challenge to their rule. His Thought Police were based very much on the techniques actually used by the Soviets. They sought by surveillance and other methods to root out any trace of “unorthodoxy.”
On Saturday night, the awful possibility of “lightcrime” appeared on the deliberately dimmed horizon. Who among those who knew about Earth Hour did not feel an internal compulsion to turn down the lights for fear of public disapprobation, even if they believed that the whole thing was either a pointless or subversive stunt?
Author Peter Foster explains the metaphor further, and finishes by sharing this incredibly sad comment from a 12-year-old in Toronto:
“Earth Hour is important to me because my kids and grandkids will be living on this Earth,” declared Morgan Baskin, aged 12, at an event at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Toronto. “I don’t want my kids to be around for the end of the Earth.”
Like Peter says, this is child abuse. Instead of being taught to learn about the environment, to read and to think, children are being taught that unless you turn your lights off for an hour along with everyone else, the world is going to end.
Read: Lightcrime
MasterMaq's Blog 
Ahh – indoctrination of the herd.
Of course, if you didn’t turn out the lights, you are not supporting your country’s troops abroad!
Oh, sorry that was the wrong brainwashing/bullying tactic there.
P.S.
I don’t believe telling people to buy CF lighting is a solution (more of a revenue stream for those companies). People need to seperately understand emissions, resource consumption and there’s also entropy…
Pushing energy companies to move from oil/coal/gas to reneweable or free (i.e. solar) energy sources is the only sensible move and/or subsidize (retro-)fitting of solar panels to housing.
Did you see US ‘big oil’ testify this week including stating that they expect to get 20% of sands-oil from Canada, and dismissing China’s attempt to compete for that? Not surprisingly they are prepared to expand refining, despite a committee member’s doubts – of course they are because they need growth to keep pushing stock prices up – no-one runs a company just to pay dividens anymore…
colin – you’re right, there needs to be some real education, not simply blind purchasing of so-called “green” goods.
Your first comment made me LOL.
I read that article too- it was very insightful and well-written. I think Mr. Foster made a very valid point about Earth Hour being a new form of mass indoctrination.