So it didn’t come as a surprise when a number of residents in Mindanao greeted the global voluntary event on Saturday with a mixture of exasperation, having been subjected to long power outages.
“In Mindanao, every day is Earth Hour,” summarized the sentiments of various comments on social media.
Earth Hour is a climate-change awareness campaign by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) which encourages people to voluntarily switch off nonessential lights and appliances from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. every last Saturday of March.
This year, the reduction in electricity use during Earth Hour was 362 megawatts (MW), lower than the 429 MW in 2011 and at least 611 MW in 2009. WWF said the electricity saved in 2009 was equivalent to a temporary shutdown of a dozen coal-fired power plants.
PH No. 1
Despite the small reduction in power use this year, the Philippines—for the fourth consecutive year—led the world in the number of local government units that took part in Earth Hour.
A record 1,671 Philippine towns, cities and provinces—10 more than last year—joined the rest of the world in taking a stand against climate change, WWF said.
“We are elated to clinch the top spot for the fourth year in a row. More than the numbers though, Earth Hour espouses the importance of our actions beyond the hour,” Earth Hour national director Gia Ibay said in a statement.
“This year’s switch-off merely signifies the start of a yearlong pledge to minimize our ecological impact and to do our bit for a more sustainable planet. These sustainable-living pledges can take many forms, from upgrading to energy-efficient appliances to choosing to bike to work every day. Pledges really depend on the individuals, who can personally assess what changes they can adopt to reduce their consumption of electricity and water,” Ibay said.
Although the number of those who confirmed to join the voluntary switch off increased in 2012, the electricity saved declined, WWF said.
Blame blackouts
Gregg Yan, WWF communications officer, said the drop in the energy saving could be blamed on the blackouts in Mindanao and the Visayas.
Yan noted that the energy-saving was based on the country’s power consumption. Because the volume of electricity used has been declining, thanks to blackouts of at least seven hours in Mindanao, the savings also went down, he said.
“Our power consumption has gone down. This is because of the blackouts in Mindanao and parts of the Visayas,” Yan said.
He said it was possible that fewer individuals took part in the event this year. Ten million Filipinos took part in Earth Hour in 2009, according to WWF.
WWF-Philippines CEO Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan said the focus “should not be on how much power was saved or on who topped Earth Hour or what. What matters is that we try to go beyond the hour.”
In his video speech during the Earth Hour switch-off ceremony on Saturday night, President Benigno Aquino III said that his challenge “is not about this next hour, but about what we will be doing in the days, months and years to come.”
Not pleased
“The challenge is to reduce our wants so we can fulfill everyone’s needs. I believe that so long as we are united under this goal, we will succeed,” the President said.
Mindanao residents were, however, not pleased with Earth Hour, having been involuntarily subjected to power outages for more than a year.
Twitter reactions to Earth Hour ranged from amusement and annoyance.
“Here in Mindanao, we observe Earth Hour every day and we call it ‘rotational brownout,’” said Twitter user @derfmaiz.
@markfvillanueva said: “Our place in Mindanao doesn’t need to practice Earth Hour today. Electricity is out a couple of hours almost every day.
Mining firms
Among those who took part in Earth Hour were mining companies, which environmental groups have accused of despoiling the environment.
They included Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., Rio Tuba Nickel Corp., Coral Bay Nickel Corp., Philippine Mining Development Corp., Sagittarius Mines, FCF Metals and Berong Nickel.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines said in a statement that these companies were among its member-companies that took part in the global event.
Aside from the one-hour light switch-off, mining firms have taken other initiatives for the environment, including contributing to the government’s National Greening Program and initiating other reforestation programs, the chamber said.
Another is changing fluorescent and incandescent lights into compact fluorescent lamps generating substantial savings in power consumption.
Most mining firms have their own generating plants. With reports from Amy R. Remo and Riza T. Olchondra