Idiot Hour

'Seven Days' or is it 'Five Days' now?) reports -

“[Dubai], Abu Dhabi and Sharjah were plunged into darkness yesterday as the UAE showed its commitment to fighting climate change by joining cities across the globe to observe Earth Hour. More buildings and homes than ever before marked the hour in Dubai by switching off non-essential lighting to make a stand on reducing global warming and carbon emissions.Lights were switched off or dimmed at landmarks across the emirate between 8.30pm and 9.30pm including the Burj Al Arab, Emirates Towers and Madinat Jumeirah, and at The Walk in Jumeirah Beach Residence hundreds of people gathered to stage a candlelit vigil.[…]"

Between 8:30 and 9:30pm on Saturday night another commitment was made over at Nad Al Sheba racecourse: the extraordinary commitment to illuminate the World’s richest horse race with an approximate 5 to 10million of Watts producing some 600milllion + lumens from sodium vapour floodlights above the race track. Now here is what I call commitment to “Earth Hour”!

The race meet started in the late afternoon and lasted well into the night. The same night hundreds of well meaning morons gathered at Jumeirah Beach Residence to hold candles into the rainy night with self-congratulatory grins on their faces. This warm feeling of being amongst like-minded folk in sandals….Doesn’t it always feel so…, like, right, to remonstrate with those who agree with you?

There is nothing wrong with the intention of saving energy, nor with actually doing it. Turn out the lights when you leave a room (unless there is someone else still in it). Don’t waste electricity, or water, or fuel - or anything, for that matter. But do not, please, pretend that your little futile gesture once a year at 8pm makes even a iota of a difference.

The CEO of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is quoted in the article as saying that he “hoped that this year’s event would double the amount of energy saved last year”.
Mind you, that’s double of a relative saving made during one hour of 1/364th part of a year. If we measure success in millimetres then we are indeed making giant leaps!

Well, may I put forward a little suggestion here to the CEO of DEWA of how to save even more energy in a country that produces more carbon dioxide and uses more water per capita than any other country in the world:
Start by scrapping utility subsidies for the 10% of the population who consume nearly 40% of resources. Mr. DEWA, free water and discounted power for the local population is not likely to encourage conscientious use of energy. Duh. Imposing higher rates for everyone does. Levying a tax on fuel or simply increasing prices does. Fuel costs about 4 to 5 times less in the UAE than in Europe. People will drive smaller, more efficient cars if fuel prices go up.

There is scope to make a difference right HERE in front of our noses. And sorry Mr. DEWA, yes, you too might have to pay full price for your utilities. Then I shall talk to you about energy saving measures.

Let's recap: a minuscule energy saving made during one hour of one day of the year in the most consumerist and wasteful country on Earth (per capita) is being celebrated with candlelight vigils whilst at the same time an extra 5million plus Watts are spent on a nighttime race meet, which – let me stretch my perverted imagination here - couldn’t by any chance have been held during daytime hours? So as to, perhaps, make a difference?

As the saying goes. You can fool some people all the time and all people some time, but you can fool all those at Jumeirah Beach Residence holding candles all the time.

Now guys, stick your “Earth Hour” where it’s always dark and get down to saving energy proper.