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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These --Apple-Mail-279--479780267 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Dave, On 29-Mar-10, at 2:16 PM, David & Alison Webster wrote: > Hi Wayne & All, March 28, 2010 > Pogo, in about 1957, said it long before limits to growth and > said it best, while looking our over a swamp fouled with tires, auto > batteries, cans, bottles, etc.; "I have seen the enemy and he is us." > > These earth hour sessions may have some positive consequences > but I wonder if earlier sessions are responsible in part for the > idea that incandescent bulbs are somehow undesirable. [In our > latitude nearly all of the heat generated by incandescent bulbs is > welcome; apart from 15-20 evenings per year.] In 2007 I calculated > our estimated annual usage of power for lights as a percentage of > average residential power use; a whopping 4.5% ! > > Has the message been corrupted by simplistic interpretation and > the desire, in some quarters, to finally find a market for > fluorescent bulbs ? > > Out previous government established Conserve NS, partly to push > fluorescent bulbs and our present government plans to (perhaps has) > move this function to a private agency. One effective way to > conserve energy would have been to turn off the lights at Conserve > NS and spin-offs; permanently. > > Rather that pull the main switch for one hour per year, surely > the message would be more convincing if one were to use power > sparingly for some 8700 hours per year. I take your point, however, I wouldn't be so quick to discount the importance of symbolic acts. No one associated with Earth Hour pretends that turning off/down the power for one hour is the answer to climate change. The message is intended to both: 1. Draw attention to the issue of wasteful use of resources (such as power) on the part of the public, thereby contributing to making people consider (and perhaps even act upon that consideration!) what they could do more intelligently and frugally over the remaining 8,759 hours; and 2. Collectively exhibit that broad public support (i.e., translatable to electoral support) that will help galvanize or empower politicians to take similar policy and legislative steps. Also, I don't think the energy wasted with incandescent bulbs is so easily dismissed (a rather poor way to heat a house, I should think ... ;->). I recently saw the results of a study commissioned in the USA (New York sate, I believe, but it could have been Massachusetts) on the savings that would be realized by changing all the light bulbs in public buildings (hospitals, police stations, government office buildings, etc.) from incandescent to fluorescent. It worked out to the energy equivalent of removing several thousands of vehicles from the road (I can't put my fingers on the story, and hence the exact number). As for fluorescent bulbs, when I bought my present house ~ 8 years ago I installed them wherever possible throughout the house. I bought 2-3 spares as well, to have on hand when they needed replacing. In that time I haven't had to change a single one and my spares gather dust in the basement ... ;-> Cheers! Chris Christopher Majka Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2G5 c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca Nothing in life is difficult except putting your pants on over your head. - Nikita Khrushchev --Apple-Mail-279--479780267 Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Dave,<div><br><div><div>On = 29-Mar-10, at 2:16 PM, David & Alison Webster wrote:</div><br = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type=3D"cite"><span = class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: = rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; = font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; = letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: = auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; = widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; = -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; = -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: = auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div class=3D"hmmessage" = bgcolor=3D"#ffffff" style=3D"font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; = "><div><font face=3D"Arial">Hi Wayne & All, = March 28, = 2010</font></div><div><font face=3D"Arial"> Pogo, in = about 1957, said it long before<span = class=3D"Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>limits to = growth</em> and said it best, while looking our over a swamp = fouled with tires, auto batteries, cans, bottles, etc.; "I have seen the = enemy and he is us."</font></div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"></font> </div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"> These earth hour sessions may have = some positive consequences but I wonder if earlier sessions are = responsible in part for the idea that incandescent bulbs are somehow = undesirable. [In our latitude nearly all of the heat generated by = incandescent bulbs is welcome; apart from 15-20 evenings per = year.] In 2007 I calculated our estimated annual usage of power for = lights as a percentage of average residential power use; a whopping 4.5% = !</font></div><div><font face=3D"Arial"></font> </div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"> Has the message been corrupted by = simplistic interpretation and the desire, in some quarters, to = finally find a market for fluorescent bulbs ?</font></div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"></font> </div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"> Out previous government = established Conserve NS, partly to push fluorescent bulbs and our = present government plans to (perhaps has) move this = function to a private agency. One effective way to = conserve energy would have been to turn off the lights at Conserve NS = and spin-offs; permanently.</font></div><div><font = face=3D"Arial"></font><font face=3D"Arial"></fon