DATE: March 27, 2009
CONTACT: Kimberly Maroe, Public Information Manager
Broward County Board of County Commissioners
PHONE: 954-357-8053
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the law offices of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler at 401 E. Las Olas Blvd., the law offices of Shutts & Bowen at the National City Center building, 200 E. Broward Blvd., and the Museum of Discovery and Science will turn out all "non-essential" lights as they participate in "Earth Hour" on March 28 at 8:30 p.m.
"I hope that other businesses, cities and individuals will follow suit and join Broward County in this effort to save energy and promote the idea that each of us can make a big difference when we combine our efforts toward a common cause," said Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs.
On Tuesday, March 3, the Commission passed a resolution asking all residents and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for the hour between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on March 28 to conserve energy and raise awareness about climate change.
Commissioner Jacobs, who is Chair of the Broward County Climate Change Task Force, brought the resolution to the Commission for approval.
Led by the World Wildlife Fund, more than 50 million people in 400 cities around the world took part in Earth Hour last year. The lights went out at Sydney's Opera House, Rome's Coliseum, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Even the Google homepage went dark for the day. In Israel, President Shimon Peres personally turned off lights in Tel Aviv.
This year, Earth Hour will be even bigger. This year, 2500 cities in 82 countries have signed up to participate in Earth Hour. That's quadruple the number of cities that participated last year.
In the United States, cities large and small have said they'll participate, including Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco, with more signing up daily. They will join international cities, such as Beijing, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome and Toronto.
It's estimated that if every American participated in Earth Hour, 16,610 tons of carbon dioxide would not be released.
"We're calling this the power of one campaign," said Commissioner Jacobs. "This is something that one person can do and if we do it collectively, it gives you an idea of the impact we have when we band together."
For more information on Broward County's environmental programs and services please go to www.broward.org/gogreen. The web site also provides information and tips on what residents and businesses can do to "go green." For more information on Earth Hour go to www.EarthHourUS.org
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