I have to confess that I forgot about it, but I am an avid off-switcher. Mountain top mining is a marginal business that is propped up by negligent legislators. It would not be profitable if the attempted to do even a slightly reasonable job of restoration. If everyone tried to keep only necessary lights on and unplug unnecessary equipment and wall warts that draw energy when not in use, we might bring down energy prices enough to make it unprofitable.
Unfortunately, conservation interferes with the gross national product, and at start up times solar and other alternatives depend on high priced energy so that they can compete while building an infrastructure.
Electric cares are more competitive when oil is high. Electric cars will also drive up energy prices and make coal more profitable, if there is not some kind of cap and trade.
Alternatives will cost a lot of money which most of us can't afford, and the ones who can, don't want to part with. One of the reasons besides cheap labor, that our stuff is coming from China is because don't want to face the price of the environment and we don't care if they screw theirs up.
The internet is the other big energy user. Google has plans to build their own hydro dam and already uses solar roof tops.
The last big user of unnecessary energy is the Military. If Obama wants to save energy, closing down unnecessary bases and stopping unnecessary use of vehicles, ships and planes. Why would the Saudis want us to end the war when they make so much money off of it.
Larry
---- Gabriel Orgrease <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> David West wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the feedback, ][<en. Yes, the level of involvement
> > varies. We actually sat and watched television in the dark. Hmm.
> > What's wrong with that idea?! J
> >
> >
> >
> > The concept is multi-level. At one level, it is about people being
> > able to do something, even a little, to contribute. At another level,
> > it is to give people a trigger to contemplate the impact and the
> > consumption that they are part of. At yet another level, it is about
> > measuring the level of interest and participation and commitment. I'm
> > told that in Sydney, in the first year, 2 million people participated
> > (out of a population of 5 million). And the electricity providers,
> > measuring consumption (or demand, or whatever they call it), recorded
> > a significant drop over that period. Possibly as much as 10%.
> >
> >
> >
> > So it is very likely that the level of involvement was being measured
> > by somebody, somewhere. Not to mention the satellite images that will
> > be compared against a 'normal' Saturday night.
> >
> David,
>
> Was curious about the rolling lights-out. I was thinking about the
> global concert a year or so ago and how one could go online and witness
> it going on in China in real time, if one were so inclined. I would be
> curious though if there were a one-time, one-hour global power-down --
> what that would be like?
>
> I was thinking about the television as well. We turned ours off. Now, if
> the television was showing us the power-down going on in our time zone I
> would see a bit of sense in leaving it on. It was also suggested to us
> to turn off our computers. We did not do that, but neither did we go online.
>
> My wife did tell me earlier in the day what was reported by the NY Times
> on what was happening in Australia, and that did reinforce us to spend
> the day saying to each other, "Is it our turn yet?" I thought it was
> supposed to be at 6 PM, we argued, she checked, 8:30 PM... ok, dinner
> first. The dog was not interested in our forgetting to feed him for our
> petty global reasons. Earlier in the day we had to calibrate between us
> that it was actually Saturday when we woke up in the morning and not Sunday.
>
> I will look for satellite images.
>
> ][<en
>
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