Students in the Texas Tech community, as well as more than 700,000 participants around the world, took part in the first annual Earth Hour to help preserve energy Saturday.
Earth Hour, from 8 to 9 p.m., was a designated time for all participants to turn off all electricity in their households or businesses, as well as not use an automobile for transportation.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that a portion of the Antarctic Ice Shelf - which was three times the size of Manhattan - had split off, begun to break apart and sink. According to the article, this may have been due to rapid climate change potentially effected by humans through pollution.
Lubbock-area Rep. Randy Neugebauer said Earth Hour should not be only a single event in history, but it should teach people to be better stewards of the planet.
"We can't conserve our way out of this problem," Neugebauer said. "All we can do is preserve what we have, refocus our efforts and use science and efficiency over politics to solve the environmental problem."
Kyle Nichols, a junior theatre and dance major from Lubbock, said he hopes Earth Hour will prove an effective way to reach the global community about the current state of the environment.
"I think that, while there are noble efforts towards moving away from our dependence on oil," Nichols said, "not enough is being done to better the environment."
Juan Hendrawan Putra, a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands, said he believes people in Europe are more aware of environmental issues and are willing to sacrifice more for the betterment of the world than people in the United States.
"I don't understand why, but people here do not emphasize recycling, and they use many cars," Putra said. "Europeans tend to use bicycles and mass transportation instead."
Putra said he knows cultural and geographic differences also contribute to the differing habits, but said he believes Americans tend to focus on the more "immediate" issues than the environment.
Neugebauer said the world is energy deficient, and it is up to everyone to do what he or she can. He urges Americans to refocus their priorities to what will be best for the future.
"Earth Hour is a noble effort, it shouldn't be annual, it should be a daily practice," he said. "Let's do what we can, while we still can."
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