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March 16th, 2009
Skagit County Commissioners Announces It Will Support World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour 2009
Joins Tens of Millions in Turning Off Lights for Largest Climate Event in History
SKAGIT COUNTY – The Skagit County Board of Commissioners announced today that it will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund. More than 240 cities around the world have already committed to go dark for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.
From Amman to Warsaw, city skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history. The list of participating cities in the US includes Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day.
“Reducing greenhouse emissions is the right thing to do and obviously in these tough economic times, spending less on energy and fossil fuel allows us to focus more on providing essential services to the citizens of Skagit County,” said Skagit County Commissioner Sharon Dillon.
“World Wildlife Fund is pleased that Skagit County is taking part in Earth Hour 2009. As lights go out in cities around the U.S. and the world on March 28th, Earth Hour will provide world leaders with an unmistakable mandate to take action,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. “The climate crisis threatens the ability of our planet to support its inhabitants. We want the world to know that Americans care about saving the planet and stand united in seeking to find solutions to climate change.”
During Earth Hour 2008, more than 50 million people in 400 cities on all seven continents turned off their lights as major icons also went dark, including the Sydney Opera House, the Coliseum in Rome, Stockholm’s Royal Castle, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Google turned its homepage black for an entire day in tribute.
For further information, contact: Dan Berentson
360-419-3461