Lights out for Earth Hour
Ballina Shire residents are being encouraged to take part in Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28, by switching off lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
The annual event is an Australian initiative to raise awareness of the need to respond to global warming, and it is hoped 1000 cities around the world will take part this year.
Spokeswoman for the Ballina Climate Action Network, Sue Fielder, said the recent fires in Victoria have been termed ‘Climate Change Fires’ by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The effects of global warming are being experienced around the world, including Australia, she said.
“The increased severity and incidence of droughts, fires, storms including hail storms, cyclones, floods, coral bleaching, sea level rises affecting Australia as greenhouse gases continue to rise are worrying.
“Threats to wildlife and ecosystems, and increased range of tropical illnesses are also expected.
“In Australia, 90 per cent of electricity is generated by coal. In Sydney it accounts for 72 per cent of council emissions.
“As Australia is the largest exporter of coal, we are responsible for exporting the emissions for burning this coal to other countries.”
Corporate giant McDonald’s is joining in, and its Ballina franchise will join thousands of businesses and millions of individuals across Australia and the world in switching off the lights for Earth Hour.
McDonald’s Australia is asking all of its 780 family restaurants to get behind the initiative by turning off their famous Golden Arches.
McDonald’s Ballina licensee, Scott Campbell, said he and the restaurant’s crew were pleased to be participating in the event.
“Earth Hour is important in raising awareness of energy use and its impact on our planet and as such, we see it as an important event to be a part of,” he said.
“We’ll be serving customers during Earth Hour so while there’s a whole lot of things we’d like to turn off there’s some we simply can’t. However, we will be turning off the Golden Arches and other non-essential lighting and equipment for the hour
Register your participation in Earth Hour at www.earthhourau.org
