Let's be honest, electricity has been the biggest help to reducing the work load in the home, giving women more time to bring up more educated children.
I get that Earth Hour is a lovely way to try and raise awareness about being stewards of the Earth, and I am for the idea, but the big dilemma is that electricity is what the whole world aspires to achieve. Doesn't it seem so hypocriticial and contradictory that we turn off what we have for one hour? Being from an African country where power outages were the norm, doing a voluntary power outage seems so...I dont' know...so Paris Hilton.
OK - so what do I suggest instead?
Here is my favourite Greenie talking about the value of electricity, why it is needed and perhaps another way of looking after the Earth without needing to go back to the cave light. He also talks about why 1st world people with our electricity use should not be telling other countries how to be green until we figure it out.
Hans Rosling says, "Thank you, industrialization," he says. "Thank you, steel mill." "Thank you, chemical processing industry." If you listen closely, you can hear the startled laughter of Hans Rosling's audience.
Some people think these life-altering inventions -- the washing machine, indoor heating, iPhones, are the result of some kind of magic pixie dust. They happened just because. Little elves. Random events. Fate. Anything but the truth.
Which is: entrepreneurial capitalism is the spark behind every important advancement in human knowledge, and is the single greatest reason why people's lives are getting better.
So, on Earth Day, I did the laundry and gave thanks that I am living in Canada. I also lit a candle for every green entrepreneur and linked up a solar entrepreneur with a Private Equity fund who might keep the cash flowing. That early stage solar company is one of the green sparks, one of the entrepreneurs already making a difference, and I want to do what I can to help those business owners. Wow, it is tough keeping the cash flow going.
I asked Sarah Thomson, who is running as a Liberal candidate and who is a super entrepreneur and who's Facebook got me on this rant:
Sarah, I hope you will push for entrepreneurs to work on the issues brought up by Earth Day. Nothing wrong with a bit of back to the cave, dinner in the dark, as a nice sentiment, but I think that one hour in darkness on Earth Day gesture has run its course.
Time to speak up to encourage the entrpreneurs in this country. (Liberals seem to only think corporatism.) Please bring back the focus on small business and not just restaurants and stores, which seemed to be the only type and level of business discussed at the Mayors' debates I heard.
On Earth Day, we should be thanking entrepreneurs and asking for their green sparks. And asking, as Government, how can the government get out of the way?
What do you think?
