EDITORIAL - One Earth Hour = 8,764 hours left

People all over the globe are supposed to turn off their lights and any other device that runs on electricity for one hour between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (times may vary slightly depending on where in the world you are) on March 27, in support of what has been called Earth Hour.

In Cebu, it is being suggested that if enough people support the activity, no less than 30 megawatts will be saved, an improvement from last year's 24 megawatts saved. That is like shutting down an entire power plant unit.

With that as measurement, the amount of energy saved in one hour all over the world is certainly mind-boggling. Figures could skyrocket to the tens of millions of megawatts saved in just a single hour.

But that is precisely the problem. There are 8,765 hours in one year (some have computed it at 8,760 hours in 365 days). Minus one hour as Earth Hour, there are still a whooping 8,764 hours the rest of the year that are not Earth Hours, or periods of profligate powering up.

Thus the amount of energy saved, and harmful gases temporarily prevented from messing up the atmosphere and the environment, are too miniscule and puny to make any realistic, practical and meaningful difference to our lives and the world we live in.

There is no disagreement with the intentions of Earth Hour, but having it for only one hour once every year does not seem to be a very encouraging endeavor, even if every single living soul on earth participates, which we doubt very much.

Of course, it has to be conceded that the activity is largely symbolic. But then again, that is precisely the problem. Everybody knows Mother Earth is now in a very bad shape, and yet all that we seem to be so enthusiastic in doing is something symbolic.

The situation calls for hard-nose, kick-ass realism, not symbolism. Yet the biggest and most wanton destroyers of the planet are the very ones who just fold their arms and watch with great curiousity and amusement while small countries like ours go through the motions.

Naturally we support Earth Hour. Anything that is good, no matter how insignificant in the grand scheme of things, is still worthwhile in our tiny sphere of advocacies. But honest as we are, we have to admit our wrists go limp as we reach for the switch.