The Night The Lights Went Out in Vegas
March 29, 2009
Well, it finally came to fruition.
“Earth Hour” did, indeed, happen in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Strip Few Minutes Before Lights Out
Bellagio Fountains Show Few Minutes Before Lights Out
Bellagio Fountains Show Few Minutes Before Lights Out
The Las Vegas Strip 3 Minutes Before Lights Out
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
I am truly dismayed, disappointed, and embarrassed that my city took part in this escapade. The whole concept is beyond absurd. The event planners tried to get a billion people worldwide to turn off their “non-essential appliances” for one hour. This was supposed to help keep the polar ice caps from melting or some nonsense.
Did they hit the billion number?
Nobody knows. They never will.
Were the polar ice caps saved?
It’s doubtful.
Frankly, I’m not 100% sure that they are in danger.
Here in the USA, this whole “green” movement is by and large a white suburban endeavor.
Over the course of my life, I have come to realize a universal truth.
That truth is: People need a cause.
That’s the secret behind global warming. People really just don’t have anything else to do.
Nobody wants to be the odd man out. It’s uncomfortable. It is just so much easier to go along to get along.
Most people can do it.
Humans are oddly social animals, which thrive on the acceptance, affirmation, and validation of other humans.
In my honest opinion, this is why most people go to church. Do they believe in God? Probably not. Have you ever observed the behavior of the average religious person when they are outside the walls of their church? There is no way in hell (no pun intended) that these guys really believed they are facing eternity in a fiery pit, or else they wouldn’t do 80% of the things that they do.
Other people see it as a form of waking death. Psychological suicide if you will. I am one of these people. This being the case, I am sure I will take a great deal of flak for my disbelief … yet, it is one of the great ironies of life that I am one of the most “green” people in the USA.
I rode my bicycle to the first “Earth Day” in Washington DC, and was shocked at the number of SUV’s hauling in the “demonstrators” or whatever they are called. I have always made it a top priority to live as close to the inner-city as possible … specifically so I don’t have to drive.
As the demonstrators were yelling and screaming about saving the planet, and handing me literature telling me how to conserve energy, I couldn’t believe how bizarre it was. Here I was, a non-car-owner, straddling a bicycle, and these people who arrived in motorized vehicles from Herndon and Waldorf were telling me what an evil bastard I was because I was killing Mother Earth.
It was on that day that I realized that Eco-people are just not that bright. They are intellectually lost souls desperately looking for a leader.
Of course, they found one in Al Gore, but even Al doesn’t believe his own hysteria.
Don’t look at people’s words. Their words are meaningless. Look at their actions.
Al Gore says the planet is going to be destroyed, yet his household uses twenty times the energy of an average household.
How scared could he be?
If I honestly thought the Earth was going to get buried under water if I kept using energy … I would turn everything off and live in a cave. Yet, nobody does this.
It’s the same phenomenon as “recycling”. With the exception of aluminum cans, recycling actually uses more energy than it conserves. By the time they roll the trucks, pickup the bins, take it to the plant to have it sorted on giant belts, and then ship it to its finally destination … the recycling process uses far more energy than simply making a new plastic bottle.
Recycling isn’t about energy, though. It’s about money and jobs. Recycling employs tons of workers, and the benefit is seen to justify its existence.
“Earth Hour” is not about energy either.
Endeavors such as the ones we witnessed tonight are not undertaken to effect any kind of change. Las Vegas could not care less about power consumption.
It’s PR.
Vegas knows that this event will cause the neon city to get major attention.
That being said I feel complicit, hypocritical, and even guilty for covering it … but there is a demand from the public to see what the town looked like. Also, it’s Saturday night. I would have covered the city anyway.
At least this is how I delude myself into not feeling like a complete tool.
Deep down, I know better, though.
Anyway, without further ado, I present to you … “Earth Hour 2009” in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.
I was at the Bellagio when the lights went dark and I worked my way up to the Wynn, over to the freeway, down to Russell, past the Las Vegas Sign, up Las Vegas Boulevard and Trop, over the Hard Rock area, and then I stopped (I suppose illegally) on the DI overpass to catch the lights coming back on. Although traffic was very heavy, I tried to cover as much ground as possible during the hour the lights were off. Those of you following me on the Live Blog during the event already saw the preliminary shots, as well as a quick video of the Bellagio Fountains five minutes before the Strip went dim. There were some holdouts but most of The Strip participated.
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
Earth Hour on The Las Vegas Strip
It was fairly interesting to see The Strip sans-lighting in many areas tonight. It was almost eerie in spots. I guess if one thing good came out of Earth Hour, it was the unique perspective of the town.
Driving on the Boulevard and seeing the “Welcome To” sign, The Mandalay Bay, and The Luxor Pyramid completely dark was the first time in my life seeing them in such a state.
It was disconcerting, but oddly fascinating.
Same with NYNY, MGM, etc.
It was also very interesting to see the sheer gridlock as this event drew thousands upon thousands of people to witness the light outage. There were people everywhere with cameras and camcorders to document the event.
It was very much a spectacle.
I was able to make it over to the DI Bridge just in time to see the lights start flickering back on in the near distance.
I may not agree with the philosophy, but the visuals were actually worth seeing.
Written by tully on March 29, 2009 at 4:02 pm
There is a certain irony in turning off the lights to “help” the environment, while the streets surrounding the Strip are packed out with cars, isn’t there?
Written by jmp14 on March 29, 2009 at 5:03 pm
pardon my ignorance, but doesn’t all the power in Vegas come from Hoover Dam, so it’s essentially ‘free’? I can see this being slightly more meaningful in towns where the juice comes from fossil fuels or nuke power.
Written by Karma on March 29, 2009 at 6:38 pm
“Were the polar ice caps saved?
It’s doubtful.
Frankly, I’m not 100% sure that they are in danger.”
Do you really think anybody thought the polar ice caps would be saved in just one hour. No. You’re words are very scary. Not sure the polar ice caps are in danger — wow!
Written by Rex on March 29, 2009 at 8:27 pm
“Do you really think anybody thought the polar ice caps would be saved in just one hour”
No.
“No.”
Rhetorical question?
“You’re words are very scary. ”
Not half as scary as my monstrous genitalia.
“Not sure the polar ice caps are in danger — wow!”
The sun is going to burn out, flash-freezing the planet and spinning it off into the eternal darkness of outer space. All life forms on the planet will immediately die, and the Earth will be forever destroyed. This is a scientific fact.
As if that were not bad enough … get this … there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent this from happening. Hell, there is nothing you can do to even slow it down by a single millisecond.
You can march, walk, run, turn off your lights, or french kiss your Aunt Martha. It’s still going to happen.
The planet is a goner, and you can’t save it.
The polar ice caps are no consequence.
Written by lub on March 30, 2009 at 1:28 am
As the earth’s temperature has already begun to fall since it’s periodic high of a few years ago, the Global Warming army is becoming more shrill and less accurate in their proclamations. The entire movement resembles religion more than environmental science.
Written by Jinx on March 30, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Couldn’t agree more, and not just that people need a cause, but we crave a “state of fear’ don’t know if you are much of a reader, but it’s a book by Michael Crichton on environmental issues. It’s fiction, but reference wise are scientific articles, definitely worth a read if you get a chance.
Written by Tom on March 30, 2009 at 4:31 pm
The generations of Americans alive now have learned from the previous century that we solve the major problems that come along. They assume we’ll solve the energy problem and the global warming ones also.
Written by Rex on March 30, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Global warming is not a “problem”, it’s a myth. For every “study” that points to an increase in this or that, there are offsetting studies that will make the opposite point. It all depends on which one you want to market to the public.
In the past 20 years, researchers have found that Antarctic sea ice has actually been increasing, not decreasing.
So much for scuba-diving in Midtown Manhattan. It’s not going to happen in your (or your grandchildren’s) lifetime.
For the sake of argument, let’s say “Global Warming” Is real.
I walk and bike more than 99.99% of Americans, so don’t point the stink finger at me.
Anybody who is REALLY worried about it should shut the hell up and stop driving instead of organizing huge, polluting rallies of a million people. Just shut the hell up and do it already. If everyone who opened their gaping face holes practiced what the preached (Al Gore), the problem would be over.
I guess that would defeat the purpose, though. If everyone doesn’t gather and watch each other care for the earth, it’s not nearly as much fun.
These “Eco” things are social events, man.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Written by coolpacific on March 30, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Not to mention that when politicians grab ahold of a “cause” and use it as a catalyst to spend vast sums of money, the cause is immediately discredited in my mind.
20 years from now people will be shaking their heads in disbelief at how such a massive scam could be perpetrated upon the entire planet. The money already wasted and yet to be wasted is mind boggling.
Written by scandalrag on March 31, 2009 at 12:02 am
This is probably more on point:
Say you are in charge of MGM /Mirage. You’ve run through a seemingly endless stream of money by buying overpriced hotels and building condos in a city where you couldn’t give a condo away if you offered a blowjob to anyone willing to take it off your hands. Wouldn’t you jump at the chance to cut your power bill a million dollars by turning off the lights for an hour? Hell you’d be asking to make it Earth Year!
Written by hugitout on April 14, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Great publicity stunt. As previously mentioned, highly doubt it really saved any energy considering all the extra cars that were on the strip for the spectacle.