March 2008 Archives

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net THE PHILIPPINE chapter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is promoting Earth Hour, a one-day worldwide program that will have participating countries turn off their lights for one hour as a means to save energy and cut back the effects of climate change. Earth Hour will be held on March 29 from 8 to 9 p.m. in each of the participating countries from Europe, North and South America and Asia. So far, 24 cities across the world have given their intention to join. They will be switching off all lights in certain areas as part of the program. Earth Hour was initiated in Sydney, Australia in March 2007 and was attended by over two million people, with 21,000 companies also turning off their lights for an hour, reducing their power consumption by 10 percent. In the Philippines, Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad is the first politician to join the event. He has agreed to turn off all the lights along Roxas Boulevard for one hour on March 29. In an interview, WWF Philippines communications officer Gregg Yan said they have only recently started promoting the one-hour event though they are already looking for other leaders and celebrities to support the cause. "The intention of Earth Hour is to encourage more people to save on energy consumption, which is borne out of using fuels that pollute and cause global climate change. If we could save just 5 to 10 percent of energy consumption just for a day, then that's already a win," Yan said. Yan said WWF-Philippines is calling on all private and public institutions to be part of the program on March 29 by shutting off all appliances for just one hour, as well as to encourage others to do the same. Earth Hour activities are also being monitored through their website, which lists down all participating cities, businesses and individuals.