Futures and Options

It’s official.  Actual electricity usage data prove that the much-hyped “Earth Hour” had no measurable effect on energy usage.  Even better, the “environmentally-friendly” things people do to avoid using electricity (lighting candles, using fireplaces, etc) actually cause more carbon emissions than their electric equivalents.  And then there’s the number of glow sticks consumed at Earth Hour parties around the globe.  We all know glow sticks, those wonderful luminescent tubes, made from energy-intensive hydrocarbon-based plastics and containing chemicals that are environmentally hazardous (albeit claimed to be “low-level” hazards).  Seems that those are very far from being environmentally friendly.  Turning off your lights to protest energy usage and then celebrating by wearing several glow sticks is like buying organic milk to avoid cruelty to cows and then eating veal cutlets.  You’re just not doing as much as you think you are.

So, if the net result of this “protest” is that we’re making any measurable reduction in electricity use, we’re increasing demand for hydrocarbon-based tubes filled with toxic chemicals, and we’re actually increasing the net carbon emissions by using candles instead of more efficient electric lights, then why should we bother with such things?  Well, according to Kim Carstensen, the director of the World Wildlife Fund’s global climate initiative, “People want politicians to take action and solve the problem.“  Ahh.  There it is.  We want politicians to solve the problem.  We don’t want to solve it ourselves.  That makes sense.  I mean, if we wanted to solve it ourselves, we’d be reducing our energy usage year-round rather than simply making highly visible but functionally-ineffective gestures like Earth Hour.  If we wanted to solve it ourselves, we’d care that the consumption of glow sticks and candles during Earth Hour celebrations negated any reduction in electricity-related carbon emissions (and may even have been worse).

But everyone’s happy.  The environmentalists got to have their little party and act responsible, even if the reality is that they made things worse.  People like me get to enjoy pointing out their hypocrisy.  Everyone wins.  Unless the politicians actually try to do something.  Then we’re probably screwed.  Hey, at least those carbon-emitting candles are pretty though.