Earth Hour

Oops!

Earth Hour was last night.

Earth Hour 2010 inspired an estimated one billion people, organizations, corporations and governments to come together and take a strong stance against climate change. Starting in New Zealand and following the sun around the globe, Earth Hour asked everyone to do something quite simple—turn off the lights at 8:30 p.m. local time. Just one hour for an individual, and 24 hours for the whole world.

In the U.S., where the effects of climate change are increasingly apparent, it felt good to vote for action with a light switch, dimming lights at home and watching iconic landmarks from the Las Vegas Strip to the Empire State Building go dark. Here, Earth Hour’s message hit home: We care about this country and want to turn off the lights on dirty air, dangerous dependence on foreign oil and costly climate change impacts; and make a switch to a cleaner, safer and more secure world.

I missed it.

What was I doing at exactly 8:30 last night?

I was on the road or in a store shopping between 8:30 and 9:30 PM.

The lights were on.

Sorry, world.

I didn't mean to cause the climate to change.