Several places distributed between restaurants, streets, cafes and institutions switched electricity off for one hour on Saturday, in response to the “Vote for Earth” initiative which calls for rationing energy use.

AP reported that

“From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Empire State Building in New York, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday night to highlight the threat of climate change” The Jordan Times

The message behind this optional electricity cut off was to spread awareness concerning excessive use of energy sources, and global worming, as well as highlighting the need to save the planet for future generations.

Jordan’s news agency quoted Khaled Irani, Environment Minister, as saying that

“Reducing electricity consumption definitely narrows the budget deficit; decreasing our use of energy by 20 per cent saves the treasury almost JD500 million annually, while cutting down water consumption by the same percentage saves almost JD200 million annually” The Jordan Times.

I appreciate Irani’s statement of how rationing energy and water could actually save millions of Jordanian Dinars annually. But I would like to comment that there is much more in this than just how much money we could save -not that I am underestimating this point in any way-. But how about how many lives we could save?!!! Because yes, my friends, if we keep wasting water the way we are wasting it today, there will be none left for our grandchildren, and unless a solution is found, people WILL DIE.

Sadly enough, I don’t think this initiative got enough attention in the Jordanian media, while I believe that Jordan is a country which is desperately in need for such a step, due to poor resources, and great changes in climate causing unstable weather, which means unstable, and sometimes inadequate rain fall.

So yes, I do see the positive side of it; the public participation, and the willingness to do something about it... but I also feel the need for something more concrete to be done; something like an applicable plan for the years to come.