Dear Dubaiary…

…today was Earth Hour

For those of you who don’t know me, I should give full disclosure at this point. I am a sceptic about so called “global warming”. While I consider myself to be environmentally aware, indeed I consider myself to be an environmentalist, I am concerned about the real issues we face such as over pollution of rivers, over population leading to food and commodity shortages and the over fishing of the seas.

I do not, however, just accept the concept of “global warming”, or “climate change” as it is now referred to (the fact that the planet is not actually warming up forced this change of focus), simply because I am told over and over that scientists “predict” a rise in sea levels.

Similarly, as a trained chemical engineer, it saddens me when I hear supposed scientists refer to carbon dioxide as a “pollutant”. Carbon dioxide is, after water, the most fundamental compound to life on this planet. It is far less of a concern (or at least it should be) than millions of other, non-naturally occurring chemicals we poor into the sea and sky on a daily basis.

Finally, the casual assumption that an increase in output of CO2, regardless of how genuinely insignificant this is to the atmosphere, leads to a rise in temperature, despite the evidence that the latter in fact leads to the former, is shoddy science that has been conveniently manipulated by groups from governments to anarchists to tally with their own agendas.

And so it was that today, as we approached “Earth Hour”, I shook my head in wonder at how happy people across the world are to go along with an unproven concept, as long as it’s popular. I guess that’s how religions get started.

I went to the Coldplay gig in Abu Dhabi, which I was told had had its carbon footprint “offset” by buying a wind farm. The gentleman responsible for the offsetting, interviewed by local radio earlier in the day, made it sound like a very exact process. I wondered how much money his business was making from people’s need to feel good about themselves. Or from businesses keen to appease the angry eco-hordes.

As I entered the arena, I was presented with a green plastic band, the type which are so in vogue with charities (despite the use of oil products to make them) which proclaimed “Hero”. Apparently, I was required to do nothing more than spend 500 dirham on a ticket to be considered a “Hero”.

“What’s this for?” I enquired of the eager girl who was trying to force the gaudy loop on my person.

“It’s for Earth Hour!” She enthused.

“Who is behind ‘Earth Hour’ and why is it important?”

“Err, I dunno. It’s about carbon and stuff!”

I wandered off, leaving her with the pea green bangle.

Earth hour in Abu Dhabi was marked by a supernova of lights and lasers as Coldplay did an outstanding job of entertaining a crowd facing biblical rains and lightning from God’s own top draw.
In Dubai meanwhile, people got into the spirit of things (or acted like sheep, depending on your view point) by turning off lights across the city. The Burj Al Arab halted it’s nightly illuminations which blend colours across it’s surface like a giant fiber optic Christmas tree and diners in restaurants were greeted by rooms filled with candles, despite candles actually being ten times worse for the atmosphere (if you believe the CO2 myth) than just leaving the lights on.

And most magically of all, in a move that could only happen in Dubai, a lot of people decided to show their support by turning off the lights…. on their cars.

Genius.