Letter of the day: Douse lights to shed light during Earth Hour

Tonight at 8:30 p.m. marks the fourth annual Earth Hour. People around the world will turn out the lights for an hour, making a global statement about climate change and demonstrating their commitment to finding solutions. Sydney, Australia, initiated the idea in 2007. Energy consumption fell 10.2 percent, which is the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for an hour. Nearly a billion people participated in Earth Hour 2009 in 4,100 cities in 87 countries, stretching from Mongolia to Argentina, from the Arctic to Antarctica. The Mesabi Range Technical College has signed on, but not the University of Minnesota or the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In government, only the Minnesota House of Representatives has signed on, and Minneapolis is the only Minnesota city to join. Where is everyone else? WANDA S. BALLENTINE, EAGAN