Climate and Weather

“To speak of ecology now is to repeat almost word for word what was said in 1970, in 1950, or even in 1855 or in 1760 to protest against the damage inflicted on nature by industrialization. This theme has been looping back and forth since the very beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.” —Bruno Latour
 
We are quickly approaching the annual one-hour event in energy self-flagellation and green nitwittery known as Earth Hour, which takes place tomorrow on Saturday, March 24, at 8:30 p.m (local time). Our friends at Earth Hour are asking people around the world to “set aside an hour to host events, switch off their lights, and make noise for the Earth Hour movement.”
 
Take Action: Celebrate Innovation

Saturday, March 24, 2018
8:30 – 9:30 PM

(all time zones)

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour by sharing your favorite human achievement on Facebook and Twitter! What innovations make your life safer, healthier, and happier?

Use the hashtag #HAH2018 to tweet examples and photos to @ceidotorg.

During Human Achievement Hour, will you be:

  • Checking social media from your smartphone?
  • Watching your favorite TV show or movie thanks to satellite technology?
  • Participating in the craft brewing revolution with a cold drink?
  • Facetiming or Skyping with far-off friends and family?
  • Traveling home from a night out with a rideshare driver?
  • Relaxing at home with plenty of food, heat, and hot water for your family?
However you spend the hour, please remember that human ingenuity, affordable energy, and the freedom to create and innovate are making life better for billions of people around the world every day—from life expectancy and disease treatment to literacy rates and increased employment. Throwing up barriers and restrictions that slow down these improvements have real costs, especially for the poor and most vulnerable among us.
 
History of Human Achievement Hour:

Originally launched as an alternative to “Earth Hour,” an activist campaign that calls on people to show their concern about climate change by turning off their lights for an hour, Human Achievement Hour challenges people to celebrate human ingenuity and our ability to solve problems creatively.

Today, some environmental activists view mankind as a plague upon an otherwise pristine and virtuous planet, calling for a smaller human population, limits on energy use, and government restrictions on valuable new technology. Rather than putting a vibrant economy and human know-how to use, we hear fearmongering about living in a resource-constrained world – poorer than our ancestors – with government restrictions on what we can grow, use, mine, harvest, and create.

This is an overly-pessimistic vision of our shared future that ignores how affordable energy sources—like oil, natural gas, and coal—are vital to human survival. It also fails to explain why, even as population has boomed over the last 50 years, people around the globe are healthier and wealthier than ever before.

Technology, affordable energy, and the competitive economies that brought electricity to the developed world are precisely what will allow us to continue to prosper as we address the global challenges ahead. Instead of sitting in the dark, Human Achievement Hour asks us all to celebrate the human spirit—and support a free society in which ever greater success is possible.
 
History of Human Achievement Hour:

Originally launched as an alternative to “Earth Hour,” an activist campaign that calls on people to show their concern about climate change by turning off their lights for an hour, Human Achievement Hour challenges people to celebrate human ingenuity and our ability to solve problems creatively.

Today, some environmental activists view mankind as a plague upon an otherwise pristine and virtuous planet, calling for a smaller human population, limits on energy use, and government restrictions on valuable new technology. Rather than putting a vibrant economy and human know-how to use, we hear fearmongering about living in a resource-constrained world – poorer than our ancestors – with government restrictions on what we can grow, use, mine, harvest, and create.

This is an overly-pessimistic vision of our shared future that ignores how affordable energy sources—like oil, natural gas, and coal—are vital to human survival. It also fails to explain why, even as population has boomed over the last 50 years, people around the globe are healthier and wealthier than ever before.

Technology, affordable energy, and the competitive economies that brought electricity to the developed world are precisely what will allow us to continue to prosper as we address the global challenges ahead. Instead of sitting in the dark, Human Achievement Hour asks us all to celebrate the human spirit—and support a free society in which ever greater success is possible.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
 
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