Edison's Light Bulb Goes Dark For Earth Hour

[Editor's note: This story first published March 20.]

With the flick of a switch, a room at the went dark.

The gesture was a nod to Earth Hour slated to take place today from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

"This one symbolic act, of switching off one's light for only 60 minutes, connects millions of people from around the world," said Councilwoman Susan McCartney who is also a liaison to the West Orange Energy Commission.

Local officials gathered March 19 at the national park to raise awareness around energy conservation.

"Global warming is for real … we can see there is truly a problem," Assemblyman John McKeon said, adding that the state has taken a real "step backwards" in the last two years when it comes to environmental initiatives. "To ignore it is to ignore the science, we need to do something about it, we need to fight."

McKeon also presented the energy commission with a resolution immortalizing the event and praising the commission and the township for their work to spread awareness regarding climate change.

Near the end of the event, two students from West Orange High School that are also a part of the West Orange Sustainability Committee, pulled a large switch, turning off four generations of light bulbs — a multifilament bulb, an incandescent, a compact fluorescent and an LED light.

The act was videotaped and will be posted on the Earth Hour website in the hopes of encouraging others to "go dark" come March 31.

"Earth Hour is a great way to show students that we an make a change in our environment," Erica Price, a junior at the high school said.

The video, once on the website will be "for the entire world to watch," according to Michael Brick, co-chair of the energy commission. He said though this is the first time the township submits a video to the website, the township has been a previous sponsored of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour was co-founded in 2003 by Andy Ridley as an awareness movement, Brick said. "People realized the environment needed support."

Superintendent of West Orange Schools and Mayor Robert Parisi were also in attendance.

"We went from no light to light … to realizing the importance of conservation and that is why we are here today," Parisi told the crowd.