Celebrate Human Achievement Hour!

Tonight at 8:30pm lights will be turning off across Australia. Why? Because Bob Brown and radical environmental extremists want to prepare us for the New Dark Age. 

They say a picture tells a thosuand words. Here is a satellite photo of North Korea at night, compared to prosperous South Korea. The darkness in the North is what we have waiting for us if Bob Brown has his way:

 

So, as the radical environmentalists are sitting in darkness, I would instead ask you to turn your lights on, and take a stand by joining us and millions of others for Human Achievement Hour! "Human Achievement Hour (HAH) is a celebration of individual freedom and appreciation of the achievements and innovations that people have used to improve their lives throughout history. To celebrate Human Achievement Hour, participants need only to spend the hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 31 enjoying the benefits of capitalism and human innovation: Gather with friends in the warmth of a heated home, watch television, take a hot shower, drink a beer, call a loved one on the phone, or listen to music. HAH is an annual event meant to recognise and celebrate the fact that this is the greatest time to be alive, and that the reason we have come is that people have been free to use their minds and the resources in their environment to experiment, create, and innovate. Participants in HAH recognize the necessity to protect the individual persons from government coercion, so that we may continue innovating and improving our lives and the world around us."

As Jo Nova put it:

We are the lucky generation with light at the flick of a switch. In the hundred thousand years since homo sapiens came to be, people have fled bondage, wars, small-pox, dysentery, died from minor scratches, starved to death, been ravaged by lions, stricken by cholera, and survived the odd ninety thousand year stretches of hypothermic, abysmal ice age.  We lived in the darkness for 99,900 years, cowering in corners, listening to drips, waiting for the sun.  It’s your chance to show your commitment to fighting the forces of darkness. Be brave, stand up to the people who want to tell you what kind of globe you are allowed to buy. Feed the world by helping to boost global CO2 to lift crop yields and fertilise farms all over the planet. Children are hungry in Haiti and, since CO2 is a well mixed gas, sooner or later, you will be helping them.

The lightbulb might now be illegal in Australia thanks to Malcolm Turnbull, but we can all still celebrate the energy that makes human achievement possible! So at 8:30 tonight, turn all your lights on, and join us in celebrating the great things we have done,  and think on the great future we have ahead of us!

 

 
To quote the Competitive Enterprise Institute:

Green and private conservation are fine. We have no problem with an individual (or group) that wants to sit naked in the dark without heat, clothing, or light. Additionally, we would have no problem with the group holding a pro-green technology rally. That is their choice. But when this group stages a “global election” with the express purpose of influencing “government policies to take action against global warming,” we have every right as individuals to express our vote for the opposite.

If Human Achievement Hour is at all a dig against Earth Hour, it is so only by the fact that we are pointing out what Earth Hour truly is about: it isn’t pro-earth, it is anti-man and anti-innovation. So, on March 31st, CEI plans to continue “voting” for humanity by enjoying the fruits of man’s mind.

CEI is actually hosting a live webstream of their Human Achievement Hour party at what works out to be 11:30am Sunday Sydney Time, and you can participate here. 

Australian blogger Tim Blair was even more explicit, calling for an Hour of Power:

First, it’s symbolically vital that you turn on every single light for the appointed hour. Sounds easy enough, but there is always a sneaky bulb out on the back porch or in the garage. Be vigilant. Don’t let even the smallest or least visible globe escape illumination… If you know anybody in the local council or the film industry, lean on them for a one-night use of something massive for the backyard. These people have got lights that you wouldn’t believe. Point them at your pool and it’ll evaporate like a state Labor party.

Food is important. Put some thought into what you serve. According to as recent study, the basic prawn cocktail has an absolutely massive carbon footprint. Biologist J. Boone Kauffman found that, with transport and refrigeration factored in, just 100 prams of prawns shipped from a typical Asian farm represents a total carbon output of 198kg. So you’ll be eating prawns, then. Plus pizza. The delivery kid won’t have any problems finding your house for once, what with it being lit up like a supernova. (Read the whole thing)

 
As Jo Nova summarises:

"The Hour of Power  raises awareness of how precious the Gift of 24-7 light, heat, cooling, hot water, and emergency hospital departments are. It’s hard to get an x-ray without electrons. There is but one civilization on Earth which has, albeit imperfectly, managed to give more people the right to pursue happiness than any other.

You can help to save it."

So please.  At 8:30pm tonight, keep your lights on, and send a strong message to the government, the media, and the world! 

Comments

[jon]

1.

Earth Hour is bollocks. A whole hour of going without 'non-essential' lighting? How about making a real impression by going without everything, essential or otherwise, and see how well we can live without energy. Oh, and it should be two weeks long, and include all the other energy-derived aspects of civilization like fresh food, medicine and communications.

I'm in Tokyo; no-one gives a toss about Earth Hour here but we had a good taste of it last year after the disasters, when the supermarkets emptied and we had rolling blackouts across the city for months after. The whole Earth Hour thing is more First World self-flagellation and bizarre guilt at our achievements.

[John Mc]

2.

As the last post said:

North Korea: where it's earth hour every hour!!!!

[barry]

3.

Dang , I slept through the whole thing , and all the lights were on !!!!!!
I'm soooooooooooooooooooo sorry earth!!!!!
Did I miss anything??
Did they save the planet??
Just went outside and checked.
No, nothing has changed!!!!!!

[Mr T]

4.

Had all the lights on - no toxic mercury-filled CFLs in my place.
I took the turbo-diesdel SUV for a good drive whilst leaving the empty house lit up like a Christmas tree.

F#@k the greenies - we don't need no stinkin' greenies.

[captain catholic]

5.

"d in, just 100 prams of prawns shipped from a typical Asian farm represents a total carbon output of 198kg. "

Personally, I wouldn't be eating those Asian prawns. Carbon footprint or not. Do you know what they feed them on?

[Grumpyoldman2]

6.

How dumb are those who blindly follow Dopey Bob Brown's concept. It's just more "Looka Me, Looka Me". It should be renamed Earth Out.

Trouble is for all the window dressing, this event is a non-event as far as the efficient use of power goes, unless one is solely dependent on candles for lighting. The power stations can't just turn off the boilers because of Bob's undoubted brilliance. So the just have to leave the boilers on and waste the energy produced. So bloody infantile.

[jon]

7.

What cynical little Earthians we all are. It'll be off to the re-education camps for us, come the Green Revolution.

[Grumpyoldman2]

8.

First 7 replies are on side. Where are Brown's supporters??

[dante]

9.

Statements like "tonight at 8:30pm lights will be turning off across Australia. Why? Because Bob Brown and radical environmental extremists want to prepare us for the New Dark Age" are examples of stupid alarmist propaganda that only cretins unable to think for themselves would publish in the hope of convincing other cretins to endorse.

It's evident that the person that wrote the article and those that endorse it are lazy and prone to spread misinformation, I think it's appropriate to give the reader some facts without tinting them with political colours.

Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment. Its motto is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment". It conducts works in areas as diverse as forests, freshwater ecosystems, oceans and coasts, endangered species, pollution and climate change. Its 1st office in 1961 in Switzerland. Its President Emeritus is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald (and not Bob Brown) and took place in Sydney in 2007. Heart Hour is NOT to save energy, it is NOT to prepare us for the Dark Age (although the sentiment expressed by those that have commented so far indicate that their brain is at an early stage of development several millennia before the Dark Age). It is always a good idea to understand a concept before passing negative comments otherwise you end up looking an imbecile like Dr Bolt.

Earth Hour is to create awareness around climate change issues and to express that individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better. It is not a difficult concept to grasp. There is nothing negative or political about the message it wishes to deliver. As it can be seen here http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2012/mar/31/earth-hour-2012-in-pictures most of the world did not see the end of civilisation in this very simple but profound message that together we can change the planet for the better.

And now for the politics: Linking this admirable concept with the stupidity contained in the article here demonstrate how sick and twisted the mind of the Right is. Keep on burning your lights and destroy the environment if that makes you proud, but you are a minority, the vast majority of young people understand what's at stake and, unlike you, they want a better future. Hopefully you'll soon depart and take your sick ideas with you. I've prepared the 4th, 5th & 8th circles for you, you are welcome anytime, and I promise you that Bob Brown has no power where you go!!!

[dante]

10.

Truth does not supporters, it remains the truth no matter what. Spin and propaganda need parrots and idiots like you for support because they cannot stand on their own.

[John Mc]

11.

Keep on burning your lights and destroy the environment if that makes you proud, but you are a minority,

Does it really count if we're a minority for this one hour, if the other 8765hrs of the year everyone else has got their lights and electrical appliances on just like us?

(For that matter, I don't think many people outside the central business districts gave a toss about Earth Hour anyway. I was driving through he suburbs at the time and there was no observable change in the amount of people with their lights on. It's really just large corporations in highrise buildings, the mainstream media and the luvvies who payed attention.)

[Jeff]

12.

Like all good ideas there will be a Neanderthal group opposed, if they can't understand the principle you just need to feel pity for them.

[barry]

13.

Does anybody sti reads dante's post?

Sounds a bit like Bob Brown in disguise!!!!

[Mr T]

14.

Wow Dante - how can you make something so evil sound so good????

Ahhh - I just worked it out - you said "I've prepared the 4th, 5th & 8th circles (of Hell) for you" - that means - you are Satan!!!

[Mr T]

15.

Jeff - I presume you are referring to "Human Achievement Hour"??

[Benn]

16.

I couldn't agree more about this alarmist propaganda being spewed, but the half-page of crap you then went on to spout was exactly what kind of green propaganda this poster was on about. In other words, you're just as bad. You're hurting your own cause!

I am not left or right. The truth favours neither.
&, the truth - brace yourself - is this: turning off all your lights for one hour isn't going to make any difference when it comes to the environment. Why not? Power stations. They can't just turn them off for one hour, & It takes alot longer than 1 hour to even shut them off! Add that to the fact that power stations actually burn more fuel on their hours-long startup than they would if they remained opperational the whole time - you understand where I'm going with this?

My advice to all here is that you either participate or you don't. Whatever your choice, Just don't go picking on those who made the opposite choice; the last thing we want is another wank job who forces their will on others.

[kraka]

17.

here here Benn-Every Dante post nowadays is so full of hypocrisy reading them is irrelevant. He has lowered himself to a troll and adds nothing to any debate.Like Tee he is a clueless fool trying to masquerade as someone intelligent. Epic fail.
Do tell Dante-exactly how does turning your lights out for an hour create awareness about global warming-what does it achieve to show people that global warming can be stopped? The biggest propoganda in recent times followed by the smart billionaires and dopey green/left voters is the Great Global Warming scare.

[Benn]

18.

You noticed that too, huh? What you saw was the true majority: those that don't care about earth hour.

[Benn]

19.

Huh. I'm new here so I'm not familiar with the whacko. I just want the right to win so I can afford to make my efficient & "eco-friendly" technologies a reality.

[SignedIn]

20.

If you really wanted to celebrate human achievement - celebrate efficiency.
Efficiency arguably been one of the greatest human achievements - allowing one person to do the work which previously it took many. Developing machines and systems which allow humans to exert less energy to achieve tasks. Developing technology that achieves similar results for less input. Such as energy efficient lightbulbs and energy efficient appliances.

[Robert Williams]

21.

What an achievement it will be to coerce people who are too stupid or lazy to turn off unused electrical appliances to consciously be be too stupid or lazy to turn off their electrical appliances. I really have to hand it to you guys, convincing morons to behave like morons. Don't worry about Bob Brown, the craziest of those commie environmentalists was that guy who first proposed the "Carbon Tax", John Howard.

[Zaphod]

22.

How come you people never mention ocean acidification in your conspiracy theories?

[bluebell]

23.

It won't matter what we do - unless the root cause of our problem is addressed this planet is toast.

WW1 2 billion
WW2 4.5 billion
2012 7 billion

And that is just in a space of 100 years. By 2050 there will be a projected population of 9 billion. If you think we are f*cking the environment now, just wait and see what state this planet is going to be in in the next 40 years....and don't gimme that crap that technology will save us from ourselves. The third world are breeding like a virus in a petrie dish - in fact India is deliberately exploding as some weird national pride exercise. They want to outdo China. Many sections of the West are facing depopulation, and therefore are taking in huge immigration numbers to bolster their endless search for productivity growth. Endless growth is the lynchpin that holds the capitalist system together - without it, that system would collapse. Now that China and India are on the capitalist bandwagon, with China addicted to high growth and India trying to follow suit this planet is stuffed. To get those two countries to the same lifestyle level as the West it will take the resources of FOUR planet earths to reach their goal.....does anyone have another four planet earths spare. No, I didn't think so. So that will leave vicious wars in the future to be fought over food, water, resources and shelter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zHcX9gGCHc

[Anton]

24.

Are you refering to the reaction of carbon dioxide with water to produce carbonic acid?

The same reaction that also creates carbonate - essential to coral, prawns, crabs and anything else that makes a shell.

Perhaps you should look up the equilibrium constants for the sequence of reactions, and also the Henry's constant for the solubility of carbon dioxide in water (remember to apply only the partial pressure of carbon dioxide - 1 millionth of an atmosphere)

Enjoy maths with small numbers?

[Mr T]

25.

Yeah Bluebell - and in xxx years, if we don't do something, the population of the earth will be exploding away from the planet's surface at the speed of light.

Hey ! Maybe that's what supernovae really are!!

Bob Brown - you got your answer.

[kraka]

26.

Green Energy Schemes aren't efficient Signed in-in fact i think we can agree no government of any persuasion can implement a scheme with more efficiency than the private sector.

[kraka]

27.

How come you guys never mention there is no direct correlation between rising human co2 emissions and the temperature in your golbal warming conspiracy theory?How come you guys never want talk about the geological record of the planet that shows we have been warmer than now and suffered more violent faster changes in our climate than now. Zaphod, for the benefit of the true religous zealots of the great global warming faith like yourself lets clarify a few things.No sceptic is saying that we haven't got warmer, no sceptic is saying we don't have SOME impact, no sceptic is saying lets not reduce our emissions-got that. What we are saying is-no evidence to say that co2, humans emitted co2 to be specific, is the main driver of the temperature-up or down-plenty of evidence to say the Sun is though.The impact we do have is so small as to be immeasurable (evidenced by the lack of proof from the great global warming scammers and the incessant alarmism)and reducing emissions is best done on an adaption basis-not wasting billions of green scams and introducing large taxes that won't achieve a single reduction in emissions or degree of cooling but will cost our economy.

[Andy Semple]

28.

I did my bit…I flew 15 hours direct from Sydney to Dallas, USA, during Earth Retard Hour. Oh yeah, while I was flying, I made sure I drank heaps of imported beer during my flight.

[SignedIn]

29.

Did I mention Green Energy Schemes?
NO.
The market has over the years developed efficiency. From the stump jump plough to Henry Ford and his construction line. How many people did it used to take to reap wheat in one field, whereas now one person in a harvester can do the job.
Efficiency.
Apologies if your narrow mind couldn't conceive the breadth of the word efficiency.

[budgie smuggler]

30.

Would you call yourself a yobbo Andy?

[Zaphod]

31.

Er, I think you may be misinformed Antony.
" As water becomes more acidic, the calcification process is inhibited and the growth and/or survival of certain organisms could be affected. As many of these organisms form As water becomes more acidic, the calcification process is inhibited and the growth and/or survival of certain organisms could be affected. As many of these organisms form the primary production of oceans, any change in their life cycle has the potential to impact all marine ecosystems. primary production of oceans, any change in their life cycle has the potential to impact all marine ecosystems."

[Anton]

32.

Try this:

CO2 + H2O -> H2CO3 (carbonic acid) -> H' + HCO3` (first pronation plus bicarbonate) -> 2H' + CO3`` (carbonate and second pronation)

Carbonate can then precipitate out as calcium carbonate, as used by coral and shellfish. The acid (H') is coming from the water itself, unlike a strong mineral acid (eg HCl).

If this is too magic for you, just go to the raw facts - ocean pH is not changing.

[bluebell]

33.

By introducing a Carbon Tax the West is simply committing suicide, while countries like India and China power on ahead of us on all fronts....including (eventually) militarily.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091963/Scrap-carbon-tax-say-MPs-believe-devastating-effect-industry.html

[liberal elitist]

34.

CO2 + H2O -> H2CO3 (carbonic acid) -> H' + HCO3` (first pronation plus bicarbonate) -> 2H' + CO3`` (carbonate and second pronation)

Not sure what your point is here Anton. Surely you accept that dissolving CO2 in water reduces its pH even though the new H+ ions come from the water. It shifts the equilibrium of CO2 + H2O ⇌ H+ + HCO3- to the right. Increasing the concentration of H+ shifts the equilibrium of H+ + CO32- ⇌ HCO3- to the right, reducing the concentration of carbonate ions and making it more difficult for organisms to form CaCO3. (source)

If this is too magic for you, just go to the raw facts - ocean pH is not changing.

Citation needed. References 3, 4, 5 and 13 here show that ocean pH is falling.

[Anton]

35.

take $10 out of your dole payment and try some real science:

Get some hydrated lime from bunnings and soda water from the corner shop. Dissolve the lime in water and half fill 2 equal sized glasses. To one add some soda water, to the other add an equal quantity of tap water at the same temperature.

Look to see which one precipitates first/more calcium carbonate. Then take both to the local pool shop to measure the pH.

Now look at the chemical formula for carbon dioxide. Do you see hydrogen in the formula?

Now write out 1000 times "I must think for myself and stop copying crap from alarmist websites".

BTW, I don't think your Wikipedia reference has much value. In 1 minute I noticed 2 (wild) assumptions, 1 factual error and 2 mathematical errors. No point in bothering with the rest of the article.

[Anton]

36.

Just had another look at your reference (wikipedia). I can see why it is not regarded as a reliable source, have a look:

Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Do carbon dioxide molecules have labels on them, or are the anthropogenic ones just more soluble?

Between 1751 and 1994 surface ocean pH is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14,

Really? If it is convenient then no measurement is required, right?

Just a thought – is carbon dioxide (a very weak acid) the only pH altering substance entering the ocean? Does decaying vegetation alter the pH of water? How about polluted rivers?

with some also taken up by terrestrial plants.

..., with a far greater amount being taken up by photosynthetic organisms in the ocean, which become part of the food chain or sink to the ocean floor to become “deep ocean ooze”. Large amounts of calcium carbonate precipitate directly at depths less than approximately 2000m.

The ratio of these species depends on factors such as seawater temperature and alkalinity (see the article on the ocean's solubility pump for more detail).

..., but in all cases the overwhelming majority of carbon dioxide remains as a dissolved gas, due to the very small equilibrium constants for each of the forward reactions.

2100 (IS92a)[14]
7.824 −0.355 model[11]
+ 126.5%
(the table does not paste well)

Mmm, “model”? The Henry constant for carbon dioxide varies with temperature, but can be taken as 1500 mg/l/atm for a first approximation. An increase of 1 ppm increases the maximum solubility of carbon dioxide by 0.0015 mg/l. The equilibrium constants for the acid formation (order of magnitude here, look up exact values yourself) are:
H2CO3 – 0.001
HCO3 – 0.0000001
CO3 – 0.00000000001
The numbers, unlike the “model” indicate next to stuff-all change in H+ ions and pH for even alarmist CO2 levels. To get real pH change requires partial pressures of CO2 of several atmospheres (say like 2 atm over soda water), not ppm scale changes.

Another dilemma for you – if the oceans warm as you claim, solubility of CO2 decreases, reversing your hypothesised acidification.

[kraka]

37.

WTF-that post has no relevance to mine. I said green energy schemes are not efficient which you clearly believe in. THE MARKET is the key phrase in your post.

[Anton]

38.

From the stump jump plough to Henry Ford
- dependant on the availability of cheap electricity

(Henry Ford was involved in construction??)

How many people did it used to take to reap wheat in one field, whereas now one person in a harvester can do the job

- Using cheap energy, based on oil and coal

Efficiency - No, the ability to use more energy.

Apologies if your narrow mind cannot grasp the driving force behind productivity and income improvements.