Earth Hour

Kudos to the city of Jacksonville for its participation in Earth Hour. The city will turn off the lights on the bridges and at The Landing; it's one of over 300 major American cities that will take part in this pledge to conserve resources.

I know this type of thing is fashionable, and it's only a brief commitment, but it also sends a strong message to those who are thinking hard about issues like resource depletion and clean energy.

The world is trying.

By now, we know all the tips by rote (digital thermostats, compact-fluorescents, LEDs, energy-star appliances), so no need to get into them. But here's another thing we're doing. We're unplugging all of the appliances. When a toaster is plugged in, even if not in use it has completed the electrical circuit. Power is running to that socket, on standby for use.

We've unplugged a lot of those things. We haven't used the HVAC in about six weeks here in Florida--it's been great open-window weather--and we're hoping to see a steep decline in the energy bill this month from JEA.

At any rate, happy Earth Hour and, if you're looking to take out a feel-good comedy, you could definitely do much worse than Role Models...