Calgary,
26
March
2021
|
09:03
America/Denver

City encourages citizens to power down and celebrate Earth Hour Saturday

The City of Calgary is participating in Earth Hour on Saturday, March 27 by shutting off lights at City facilities from 8:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

During Earth Hour, we are turning off all non-essential and feature lighting at several of our facilities including:

  • Ad Valorem Place
  • The Calgary Municipal Complex: Historic City Hall, Administration Building, Municipal Building;
  • Calgary Public Building;
  • Dartmouth Place;
  • Manchester Centre Building E;
  • Water Centre;
  • all fire stations.

Due to Covid-19, the free family-friendly Earth Hour event Calgary Unplugged at Confluence Plaza on St. Patrick’s Island is cancelled, but we anticipate it will go ahead next year.

Earth Hour is a global initiative to raise awareness about how limiting our energy use can reduce our impact on the environment. The City works hard to be a leader in environmental stewardship and is committed to reducing energy use in our operations, far beyond Earth Hour. Recent examples include:

  • Calgary Transit added 84 new compressed natural gas buses to its fleet in 2019 and an additional 30 are expected in 2021. Shifting to compressed natural gas fuel from diesel means significantly reduced tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Amendments to the Land Use Bylaw to make it easier for building owners and homeowners to install small-scale solar panels.
  • The Electric Vehicle Strategy aims to support faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in Calgary. EVs represent one of the greatest opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for one-third of all emissions in Calgary. Currently, Calgary has more than 200 EV charging stations with more planned.

We are also encouraging Calgarians to take simple steps to reduce energy use every day. Learn more at calgary.ca/climateaction.

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