Miami-Dade County is turning off its lights (again) for Earth Hour 2012

Miami-Dade County will join millions on March 31st in shutting down the Stephen P. Clark Government Center and Miami-Dade County Courthouse

(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- Miami-Dade County announced today that it will for the fourth consecutive year officially support Earth Hour 2012, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund. Over 135 countries and thousands of cities around the world have committed to go dark for one hour on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 8:30 p.m., as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.

During Earth Hour, Miami-Dade County will be turning off the lights for the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Miami-Dade’s Courthouse, and the County’s 140 and Hickman buildings.  Miami’s skyline will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history.

Last year, Miami-Dade County launched “GreenPrint-Our Design for a Sustainable Future,” a plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cut energy, water and fuel consumption, and help develop a sustainable community for future generations. GreenPrint is the first collective and comprehensive steps to address climate change and to creating a resilient Miami-Dade County in terms of sustainability, environmental protection and climate change.

The plan, which contains 137 separate initiatives, will result in a reduction of 1.5 million metric tons (mt) of emissions and an avoidance of 3.1 million mt over the next five years. Roughly speaking, 1.5 million mt of CO2 emissions is associated with making 144,000 trips around the Earth; traveling the distance to the moon and back 7,500 times; or powering 206,000 homes in Miami-Dade County for the year. In addition, it is estimated that 1.5 million mt of CO2e are approximately equivalent to an energy cost savings of $241,555,880 (utilizing $0.09 per kWh as an average) over the next five years.

To get more information on our climate change adaption and mitigation efforts and to read GreenPrint, please visit http://green.miamidade.gov.