Earth Hour... a.k.a.Toronto The Lame

And once again, people's apathy and lack of imagination leads us to be one of the lamest cities ever.

I headed down to the the beach (Ashbridges Bay) shortly before 8 pm struck, thinking the view of the skyline coupled with the minimized light pollution would make for some fascinating viewing.

Was I ever in for a rude awakening.

Even though Earth Hour started at 8, it was still pretty light out in our fair and rather polluted city. Yet as I walked through the neighbourhood -- with dusk slowly settling in the sky -- I noticed that many houses were happily burning through as much electricity as they possibly could. Apartment buildings were a-glitter with lit living rooms and bright televisions.

And with a few exceptions, businesses had their signs and interiors brightly lit -- because god knows, we wouldn't want a business to go through a slow period for an hour. Especially since many citizens were out wandering the streets, hoping for some faint echo of the Blackout from many years ago.

As the sun set and darkness grew deeper, I found myself a nice little mini peninsula of concrete and sand where I settled to enjoy the darkness of the Toronto skyline.

But oh, my little droogies, I nearly wept with frustrated disappointment. With the exceptions of the CN Tower, the entire downtown core was happily twinkling in all its grotesque, energy-consuming glory.

Light pollution was as bad as it ever was.

And once again, I find myself frustrated by people's inability to commit to something properly. Other cities had concerts that were 100% powered by cyclists and eco-fuel generators. Not us -- we only had "assisted" eco friendly power.

Why are people so frightened by extremes? Is it really that much of an inconvenience for you to be electricity free for one lousy hour?

I personally think that Earth Hour should be held on a weekly basis -- only for three or four hours. Non-participants will be shunned, and their houses egged. Businesses will be fined. Only one out of every for streetlights would be lit.

And roving groups of lamp-carrying revelers would roam about the streets chanting:

"Our environment has its rights
Now go turn off your fucking lights!"

Of course, I've been accused of being crazy. But if I had the running of things, the world would be a better (albeit slightly more chaotic) place.

And for the record, I still haven't turned on my lights yet.