Slightly fewer Torontonians switch off power for Earth Hour
For Torontonians, the load drop was ‘the equivalent of taking 36,000 homes off the grid’ from a typical Saturday in March, says Tori Grass, spokesperson for Hydro One.

thestar.com
March 19, 2016
By Fakiha Baig

Earth Hour participants light their candles in preparation for the earth hour walk along Roncesvalles Ave.

Slightly fewer Torontonians participated in this year’s Earth Hour festivities compared to last year, according to results from Hydro One’s calculation.

Saturday night millions of people around the world shined a light on climate change by switching off their power from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to mark Earth Hour 2016.

For Torontonians, the load drop was 89 megawatts, which is a 3.2 per cent drop from a typical Saturday in March, under similar weather conditions.

“That's the equivalent of taking 36,000 homes off the grid,” says Tori Gass, spokesperson for Hydro One.

“Last year we saw a drop of 103 megawatts, which was equal to 3.5 per cent,” Gass said.

The 0.3 per cent drop could indicate less interest in Earth Hour, however, this may not be the case. According to Gass, Torontonians have been conserving more energy throughout the year.

David Miller, CEO of World Wildlife Fund-Canada, says critics who measure the event's success in megawatt hours are missing the point.

"Earth Hour has been part of a movement that has made a very real difference and I think this year we have to celebrate that success," he said. "It's certainly never been about the amount of energy saved on the night."

The City of Toronto participated in the festivities by turning off the famous Toronto sign at City Hall. The CN Tower also dimmed its lights for the hour.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the lights were turned off at the Rideau Hall cottage where the Prime Minister and his family are temporarily living while the official residence at 24 Sussex Drive is being renovated.

Earth Hour was first launched in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia. Since then, millions of people around the world have continued to turn off their lights for an hour to show their support for an urgent need to address climate change.

According to WWF’s Earth Hour 2015 report, “a record-breaking 172 countries and territories participated in Earth Hour with over 620,000 actions taken to change climate change.”

These actions included more than 10,400 landmarks and monuments around the world switching off their lights and over 247,000 signatures collected online for climate petitions.

This year's 10th edition is as much a celebration as a call for action, according to Miller.

"This year, because the nations came together in Paris in December for the first time and agreed on a plan of action, I think the goal is not only to draw attention but also to celebrate the fact we've seen really important action on this critical challenge," said Miller, CEO of World Wildlife Fund-Canada.

In addition to the Paris climate conference, Miller points to recent premiers' meetings as well as agreements between Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama as a sign of "tremendous momentum" on climate change in Canada.