Silly Little Country

What's With the Candles, Kitty?

I keep hearing smug reports from people of how they lit up candles like mad during Earth Hour, and I am baffled at the implicit self-regard, as this surely raises carbon emissions enormously, at the expense of electrical load, which in many jurisdictions (like Ontario) is largely generated by nuclear and hydro plants, meaning this ritual makes for a net increase in carbon emission.
Perhaps we should have carbon emission charts priinted the next morning along with the electrical usage charts. On top of it, candles are bloody dangerous!
My favorite story so far is this one.

We actually enjoyed a very romantic candlelit dinner that was only interrupted when our cat set himself on fire by brushing up against the flame, which caused some excitement," Penner deadpanned to reporters Monday.
But we quickly got our cat, whose name is Ranger, under control. His hair is a little bit singed and his pride is somewhat affected. It will be a night that we'll remember for a long time.

That this is the BC Environment Minister reporting speaks loads.
It seems PETA should be lobbying against this shambolic Earth Hour exercise.
By the way, how'd it go in B.C.?

The province's electricity load dropped only 1.04 per cent, the smallest decrease in the three years since B.C. has participated in the global event.

That sounds to me like just noise; it seems people (well, some of them), are cottoning on to something.
h/t Jay Currie whose blog post titles are braver and funnier than mine

posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:07 AM