What better metaphor is there - liberals sitting in the dark, feeling smug? This evening at 8pm is Earth Hour. Earth hour was created by the Envirogroup WWF:

Earth Hour is a global lights-out phenomenon that will bring together people from all over the world to show their support for action on climate change.

It’s not about saving energy - it’s about ‘awareness’ - i.e. making decision makers aware that ‘x’ number of their citizens are self-satisfied asses. This is from ubersite Stuff White People Like - it reads quite closely to the press release from the Earth Hour people:

An interesting fact about white people is that they firmly believe that all of the world’s problems can be solved through “awareness.” Meaning the process of making other people aware of problems, and then magically someone else like the government will fix it.

This belief allows them to feel that sweet self-satisfaction without actually having to solve anything or face any difficult challenges…

What makes this even more appealing for white people is that you can raise “awareness” through expensive dinners, parties, marathons, selling t-shirts, fashion shows, concerts, eating at restaurants and bracelets. In other words, white people just have to keep doing stuff they like, EXCEPT now they can feel better about making a difference.

Here in Canada, Toronto will be hosting a free concert by Nelly Furtado:

As an Earth Hour Ambassador and an advocate for the environment, Nelly Furtado will play an unplugged concert at the Earth Hour community event, starting at 7:30 p.m. The organizers are taking steps to make the event as carbon-neutral as possible - including powering the event with green, renewable energy from Bullfrog Power. People from across the GTA are invited to attend.

In Vancouver, you`ll have to content yourself by a trip up to Whistler for a candelight dinner at the Four Seasons`Fifty-Two 80 Bistro. The Four-Seasons hotels around the world are hosting these candlelight dinners to help - of course - with awareness: “Make your bookings now, and save the earth on Saturday.”

So, question, do you honestly believe that even a quarter of the people attending these discount romantic dinners, or these free concerts, support the WWF’s unspecified “action” on climate change? The WWF clams that you do - if you participate in any way, the WWF, the Greens, the Liberals will use you as a battering ram against our government to demand that they take further crypto-marxist action against the economy.

“The event has taken off not just in Toronto, but right across the country in more than 50 cities,” said Mike Russill, President and CEO, WWF-Canada. “This is a clear signal that Canadians want to take steps in their every day lives to help the planet, and they want Canada to be a leader in the global effort on climate change.”

Sure - provided that those steps include “a baby purple artichoke salad with parmesan, truffle and spring onion vinaigrette and a thyme espuma Sonoma lamb rack encrusted with black olive ricotta gnochetti with fava beans and heirloom tomatoes”. That’s some “action” I can get behind.

What I would love to see is for reporters covering these events to ask detailed questions of the attendees. Not just ‘Why are you here?’ , but ‘What do you know about the WWF’s plans?’, or ‘What do you want the government to do?’, or even ‘Do you think a warmer Canada would be a bad thing?’.

As for me, I intend to spend today’s earth hour at a friend’s house for a bbq. I only wish this global warming would hurry up, so we could eat outside on the lawn.

More on Earth hour here: the smug American left view - the “” American right wing view - no Canadian links avail…?

Related: The Green Party is Watching You!