Climate Change We Can Believe In

Stories like this are all too common.  And here's one in our local paper about yesterday's "Earth Hour".

Rain and cool temperatures put a damper on two public gatherings last night in observance of the second annual Earth Hour in Columbia.

Psssst!  Maybe Mother Earth is trying to tell you something.  Like go home.  Enjoy life.

About a half-dozen people and about as many reporters gathered at the south end of Eighth Street on the University of Missouri campus for a “lights out” watch party to see the dome of Jesse Hall go dark.

Then they walked to Missouri United Methodist Church at 204 S. Ninth St., where they joined another small group to attend a multi-faith service intended to spread the word about climate change.

I wonder if any of them were the same people who were laughing at the 500 or so "Republican" "Fascists" at the Tea Party event in Flat Branch Park a couple of weeks ago?

Columbia Earth Hour organizer Monta Welch said the wintry weather probably caused the light turnout.

Errrr... sure. If it makes you feel better.  Imagine away.  I imagine I was watching a basketball game.  On my electricity-driven TV.  With the heater and the lights on.  And a cold beer.  Chilled by my extra refrigerator.  With "Earth Hour" the farthest thing from my mind.  My wife said she wishes she'd known.  She would have turned on ALL of the lights in the house.

I love that woman.  ;-)

But wait, it gets better.

But even at the public events, things were not completely dark. MU kept lights around the base of the Jesse Hall dome illuminated, showing flags on the building. The service at the Methodist church was held in a renovated section of the building where the lights operate on motion sensors.

So here's six people sitting around in the dark dim light (or full, bright light when they went indoors where it was warm) in the cold for an hour smugly attempting to raise awareness about how our electricity use is causing global warming climate change.  And they imagined everyone in Columbia was at home playing cards by candle light.   I'm sure they feel very good about themselves today, which is why they were really there.

At Bleu Restaurant & Wine Bar, manager Desmond Peters said the restaurant dimmed its lights “to raise awareness that our lifestyles can be harmful to the environment.”

But Earth Hour was a surprise to at least one couple enjoying dinner and wine,

Matt and Lynett Morasch of the Columbia area said it was their first visit to the restaurant. “We didn’t know about it,” Matt Morasch said of Earth Hour. “We figured it was just real dark.”

Nah. You were just surrounded by a bunch of dim wits.