Earth Hour to Raise Awareness around Protecting our Planet

On Saturday, March 30, the lights of iconic sites like the Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, and the Space Needle will be turned off between 8:30 and 9:30pm to show solidarity in the fight against climate change as people around the world celebrate the 13th annual Earth Hour, an event that originated as a symbolic “lights out” event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Burlington Electric Department General Manager Darren Springer and Church Street Marketplace (CSM) Director Ron Redmond are encouraging Burlington homeowners, renters, and businesses to join Burlington Electric, the Church Street Marketplace, and the Unitarian Universalist Church (UU) in turning off non-essential lights during that special hour to symbolize their commitment toward addressing climate change. Participants are encouraged to include #EarthHourBTV when they share their Earth Hour impressions and activities on social media. Unique to Burlington’s celebration will be star and planet gazing on the UU lawn, sponsored by the Vermont Astronomical Society. Burlington has participated in Earth Hour since 2010.

“Burlington is committed to the fight against climate change,” said Burlington Electric GM Springer. “Our participation in Earth Hour Saturday evening is a moment to recognize that we are not acting alone. Our community can be proud of our leadership on energy efficiency and renewable energy, and our work toward the goal of becoming a Net Zero Energy City. Importantly, these actions are aligned with communities around the country and the world that also are committed to fighting climate change, amplifying our impact.”

“Our downtown businesses are pleased to participate in this Burlington tradition because they understand that the negative impacts of climate change are bad for business and bad for the local economy,” stated CSM Director Redmond. “Participating in events like Earth Hour demonstrates our commitment to this important issue that matters to Burlington shoppers and those who visit Church Street.”

Individuals, businesses, and organizations in a record 188 countries and territories worldwide joined Earth Hour in 2018.  The lights of nearly 18,000 landmarks were switched off, and people across the globe generated more than 3.5 billion impressions of #EarthHour, #Connect2Earth, and related hashtags to show their concern for the planet, with the hashtags trending in 33 countries.

For more information about Earth Hour, Burlington Electric’s 100 percent renewability accomplishment, and the City’s Net Zero Energy efforts, please visit the following links:

Earth Hour | Burlington Electric 2018 Performance Measures Report