Inuit and Earth Hour 2010

Today at 8:30PM millions of people around the globe will shut off their lights for an hour to show their support for action against climate change.

Climate change is a critical issue for Inuit as it has a direct impact on our daily lives. While some discuss climate change in an abstract sense, or as something that may happen in the future, Inuit are already dealing with physical infrastructure issues as a result of melting permafrost, rising temperatures, and unpredictable ice and weather conditions.

Earth Hour is often viewed as a symbolic act, and while there is some truth in that I also believe that it can be an educational experience. It is an experience where people discover that they can reduce their energy consumption without a major impact on their lives.

Those who participate in earth hour will, possibly for the first time in their lives, consciously make a choice to participate in climate change action; and that conscious choice may well lead to other choices such as

• using more environmentally friendly transportation
• making more environmentally purchasing decisions
• participating in local recycling programs

One hour can make a difference.

I would urge Inuit, and indeed all Canadians, and people everywhere, to do their part in making Earth Hour 2010 not only a success that governments around the world cannot ignore but also a success in terms of the impact we have on our planet for that hour.

You may also want to check out our website this evening - between the hours of 8:30 and 9:30PM (EST) it will look considerably different than it does now.

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