Summary

King County tomorrow night will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund.

Story

King County tomorrow night will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund.

Joining more than 240 cities and tens of millions of people from all over the world in a call for global action on climate change, the county's non-essential facilities will go dark for one hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28.

"The people of the world uniting in an action like this shows the power of collaboration and increases public awareness about energy use and climate change, but it's important to understand this is only a gesture and not an environmental solution," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "What would be wonderful is if everyone treated most hours of the day as Earth Hours."

Sims said the lights will stay on where needed at county facilities for public safety, security and essential operations. But he said building superintendents will see that non-essential lighting will be off from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

"I'm also encouraging all citizens and businesses to think about their energy use and turn off all non-essential lights, electrical appliances, electronics, and machines," said Sims, who signed a county proclamation today supporting the event.

From King County, to London, to Australia, skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools, and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what is billed as the largest climate awareness event in history. The list of participating cities in the U.S. includes Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Nashville.

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. Google turned its homepage black for an entire day in tribute.

Learn more about Earth Hour.