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Las Vegas unplugs for Earth Hour
From the Luxor’s beam to the Stratosphere tower, decorative lighting went dark
Steve Marcus
On and off — Lights on the Las Vegas Strip are viewed looking northbound from the Mandalay Bay Resort just before “Earth Hour” in Las Vegas, then after many of the lights went off as the event began at 8:30 Saturday night. Las Vegas was among about 2,500 cities globally that showed support for the environment by dimming or turning off their signs and decorative lighting for an hour to raise awareness about climate change. The event was organized by the World Wildlife Fund.
Published Saturday, March 28, 2009 | 8:20 p.m.
Updated Saturday, March 28, 2009 | 11:26 p.m.
Earth Hour 2009
Las Vegas dims the Strip lights and joins the rest of the world for Earth Hour 2009.
Earth Hour Time Lapse
Time lapse of the Strip during Earth Hour 2009.
Sun Coverage
In a city famed for its iconic neon, the tourist cameras came out tonight to capture what they look like unlit.
Las Vegas Boulevard went dark -- or tried to -- from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. for Earth Hour.
Las Vegas was a flagship city for the World Wildlife Foundation's blackout, designed to raise awareness about global warming. More than 2,400 cities in 82 countries around the World participated in Earth Hour and for the first time the bright lights of Las Vegas were included in that list.
Headlights from the Strip's traffic, lights on CityCenter's construction and hotel rooms remained on, but most casinos flipped their lights off.
A large collective "Ooh" could be heard on the crowded pedestrian bridge from the Flamingo to Caesars Palace, when the marquee at Bills Gamblin' Hall and Saloon was the first observable outage. One by one, Bally's TV screen, Paris' balloon and Luxor's beam faded.
Cheers erupted when the Flamingo's pink and gold neon disappeared.
Annamarie Cavalli, who lives in Las Vegas, said she reserves trips to the Strip for special occasions, like last December's snowstorm.
"I'm impressed," she said. "It's pretty drastic. I think it's cool all these places participated. And it's the only time locals like me will be down here."
Teresa Vincitore said it was coincidental she took a Las Vegas vacation from New Jersey during Earth Hour.
"I imagine the amount of electricity they save will be significant," she said. "It's going to save some wattage."
Vincitore said she's not "religious" about energy conservation, but looked forward to walking around during the hour.
"We'll see what Vegas is like without all the neon," she said.
Polly Wormington, who was visiting from London, was shocked to be reminded of Earth Hour, when asked.
"We hadn't even noticed!" she said. "So that's why everyone's taking pictures of the traffic."
Therese Conner, who lives in Las Vegas and Miami, Fla., said she traveled to the Strip to take photos of the blackened casino signs.
"I thought it would be a lot darker," she said.
Conner, who said she was "very conservative" with using electricity, said though one hour won't make too much a difference, the event should get people thinking.
"It's symbolic, but it'll save electricity for sure," she said. "Let's get everybody realizing you don't have to leave your porch light on all night."
You don't have to leave your Eiffel Tower on for one hour one night a year, either.
It's lights out at the Freemont Street Experience
The Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas also joined other landmarks around the world by turning off the lights.
Just before 8:30 p.m., a brief video explanation of Earth Hour played on the giant Via Vision canopy before the so-called “World’s Biggest Big Screen” went dark for 60 minutes.
Fremont Street vendors prepared for the event by distributing green glowing necklaces to visitors.
But some visitors were caught off guard by the darkened attractions.
Jeff Braughton drove with his family from Mountain Pass, Calif., just across the state line from Nevada.
“As we drove past the Rio I thought it must have gone out of business,” Braughton said.
The trip to Fremont Street was the first for his daughter Hope. Her mom, Sandra, said it was kind of nice to be on Fremont Street for part of the darkness.
“I liked it,” she said. “It was kind of calming with all the lights off.
Other tourists were a little more prepared.
Rob Kilo said that he got a message from Planet Hollywood, where he and wife Kathy are staying while on vacation from St. Louis. The hotel asked them to leave their room lights off for the hour.
Slightly confused, they called the concierge to make sure the while city wasn’t going to be shut down. Then they came to Fremont Street to experience the darkness.
“It was odd to see it dark,” Rob Kilo said. “The whole concept as a visitor is seeing the lights. … Here everything is lights.
Springs Preserve partiers watch the bright lights go out
Las Vegas residents at the Earth Hour viewing party at the Springs Preserve enjoyed the sights and sounds from inside the Wolfgang Puck Café. Three local bands performed during the event: Hungry Cloud, The Petals and Mother McKenzie.
The sentiment at the Springs Preserve was not just the anticipation of witnessing the historical participation of Strip Casinos going dark, but making a case for every day to be an Earth Hour day.
"Earth Hour is about what you do at home, it's about those small changes you can make. It is making sure your lights are turned off, making sure the power strip to your computer goes down," said Las Vegas resident Corrine Hall. "It’s just small things, it's taking five minutes to change something small."
"I use the CFL light bulbs, turning TVs and lights off when we’re not in the room, we unplug all of our appliances when we aren't using them, phone chargers, and everything like that because those use energy even if they're not turned on," said Tommi Willingham, UNLV third year special education major.
There was a brief moment of "oohs" and "ahhs" as residents watched from the balcony at the Springs Preserve, but then there were other murmurs about why more casinos did not participate and why the lighted ones took away from the ones that were dark.
"One of the fascinating things about the Springs Preserve is the fact that they're using solar power outside here in the parking lot and a town like this it seems ridiculous that we don't," said Earth Hour viewer Dale Gilbert.
"This is something that is going to have to happen. It's not even at a point whether or not it will -- it's going to happen one way or another," Gilbert said.
Hall said she was ensuring that she does her part in leaving her little space of the Earth well-kept for the next generation.
“In my 38 years on the planet, when you’re recycling and doing those things to make a difference, you are leaving the planet the way you arrived into it," she said.
Discussion: 18 comments so far…
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What a meaningless moment. As our Prez. refuses to turn down the White House thermostat below 72 and Al Gore (the recount king) flys about in a private jet telling we need to ride our bikes. It reminds me of a child with a bottle of his moms lotion in a locked bathroom pretending to be an adult.
[Citation Needed]
In honor of this special event, I turned on every light inside and outside my home, all night.
My fear of global freezing was eased when I watched the news. People were using heat producing, oxygen sucking candles. Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.
This has to be the dumbest event ever. Not to mention the guy in the video piece who wants the meters across the world to stop spinning. We had that just 130 years ago - the average life expectancy was 50.
It is not the dumbest event, Laker. It is a gesture to remind us that our natural resources will not be there forever and need to be preserved.
Wow. I didn't realize LVSun had such a high concentration of uneducated, selfish commenters (4 out of the first 5 in this case; that's you, laguna, BugMeTons, gotjobs, lakerman76).
Earth Hour achieved its goal. Like it or not, you're now more aware of the need to consume less energy. Everyone around you understands that. "The Strip" understands that. Sadly, you refuse. You need to be right no matter what it costs you... and it costs you plenty. That's ugly.
My bad - it wasn't the dumbest thing ever. That was our last election. Just remember that people who do not believe in this hocus-pocus religion of global warming are not uneducated, we are the same who did not believe in the hocus-pocus nonsense of global cooling of the late 70's. It's sad that Vegas got caught up in this nonsense.
Goes, wow lay off the hate speak, just because somebody doesn't agree with your agenda doesn't mean they are uneducated.
Global warming is a scientific hoax.
I agree it's time we all think about conserving but no need to fear-monger.
I did think it was cool that some places gave out glowsticks to see by. You know the chemical lights that come in a durable plastic housing. Yeah, plastic, which has roughly a nuclear half-life in our land-fills.
See the problem with the enviro-hacks is they sport around in private jets telling me mother earth is dying. If they wanted to impress me they would be wearing canvas shoes and bicycling around on bamboo bikes eating tofu and drinking chai.
Earth Hour - another stupid idea that the media and society in general seems to enjoy.
People think they are being "green" by dimming the lights and then they go out and drive their polluting autos.
...and that's your uneducated opinion speaking loud and clear.
Global warming is scientifically proven, and you know it. What isn't absolute, is the root cause. There are impassioned arguments on both sides, both with reasoned and reasonable points. It is irrefutable that the planet is warming. One way to slow it (and slow it we must) is to reduce the amount of energy we consume. Another is to improve the methods by which that energy is created.
I'm sure it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing your deliberate waste of resources has proven your opinion. Not fact, opinion.
Your kids must be so proud of you.
The hotels still lit, are the ones that still have guests obviously... ;^) -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; global talk + incredible satellite view of earth
So global warming is scientifically proven? Being that all of these "Scientific" studies are paid for with big bucks from major corporations I am very disinclined to take them at face value. I'm sure it does not hurt to save energy but I'm not inclined to believe the theory that global warming is created by man.
Getalife you summed it up nicely!
Goes2, turn off your computer, you're using all my electricity.
Earth Hour is nothing but an emotional event. Those that support such things feel better about themselves when they participate. It's kind of like wearing a yellow ribbon and saying you support the troops while voting for people who do everything in their power to demean them.
This event did nothing for global warming, global cooling, or global lunacy. The facts are that the earth has been cooling since about the year 2000, when sun activity slowed. When sun activity was high during the 80s and 90s the earth warmed, just as all the other planets in our universe warmed.
Yes, there are scientists who claim that there is global warming. There are also scientists that say that it is not warming, or that the warming is a natural part of our planet.
Global warming can not be and has not been scientifically proven. Computer models that scientists use to predict the future, are only as good as the data entered into it. If you want it to be, it can be. How often dooes the weatherman get the weather correct a month in advance?
In saying all that, I hope that I am wrong. I hope global warming is occurring and we are not at the start of an ice age as some scientists predict. Warm tempatures allow for more food to be grown and an ever expanding population can continue to be fed. An ice age will freeze precious farm lands; Kill livestock and their global warming flatulence; prevent spring run-offs of snow to occur; and millions around the world will die of hungert and thrist.
Good luck to us all
Global warming is a real problem; not paying attention to what we do to the planet is the bigger problem. We're a bunch of spoiled kids with rotten learning skills. We can't even be civil to other people living on the same planet at the same time, much less to those billions we want to follow us.
Turning out the lights so we see how blind we were to the issue seems to be working. We even got a bunch of idiots to declare their idiocy. You can't solve a problem if you don't know you have it. This energy squandering has reached immense proportions. Reminding ourselves of the fact that we have a responsibility to the future citizens is a good idea. Turning out the lights was a good thing, and you idiots know it, huh?
Some people went by Al Gores house and the lights were on during the 'lights out' moment. He has fooled alot of gullible people.
Laguna it was also reported a few years back in the news Mr. A Gores home electric bill runs around 7,000.00 a month, kind of makes you wonder, as I was tought many moons ago Do as I say Not as I do!