Earth Hour 2009 has kicked off in some parts of the world and has already been touted a resounding success in Sydney harbor and Beijing.

The Earth Hour Web site reported that hundreds of people lined Sydney harbor to witness the dimming skyline at 8.30 p.m., the local time that nearly 4,000 participating cities around the world were (and are) expected to switch off non-essential lights. The famous Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing and the Water Cube were extinguished as 20 cities joined in - a blunt yet effective statement that we need to do something about climate change and global warming.

Other landmarks around the world that will dim their lights for Earth Hour are the Egyptian pyramids, Vatican, Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Acropolis in Athens and the Las Vegas casino strip.

Edward Norton appeared on the Today Show this morning to push tomorrow’s world-wide switch-off, Earth Hour. For one hour, people will make a statement that something needs to be done about climate change and that it is an issue worthy of world-wide recognition. Thus, millions of people across the globe will turn out their lights to raise awareness.

The purpose for the one-hour switch-off slated for March 28, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time, is to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.

And the cause is gaining momentum. A total of 175 U.S. cities have now pledged to turn off their lights during the hour. National landmarks like the Empire State Building and many of Washington D.C.’s most notable buildings will go dark.

D.C.’s District Environment Director George Hawkins said Earth Hour was “a symbolic but important step in showing the world we’re serious about the climate.”

Earth Hour is a campaign whose aim is provide the people with a global platform for a call to urgent action on climate change, according to the official Earth Hour Web site. The Earth Hour website states that this is an event to encourage people to turn off their lights for one hour in order to become more energy efficient.

The campaign is an initiative from the World Wildlife Fund, an organization dedicated to reducing pollution and protecting the world’s biological diversity. Carter Roberts, head of the World Wildlife Fund, said the global event was designed to “make a statement about our commitment to solve the climate change problem and symbolize the commitment that people will make throughout the rest of the year.”

How much electricity consumption does Earth Hour save? Toronto alone saved 2,347,600 kilowatts from participating in Earth Hour last year. Really, it doesn’t matter exactly how much energy was saved in that fraction of a day, because the whole point of the initiative was to get people thinking about energy conservation and to be more aware of ways to do it in an ongoing fashion. This is about changing peoples perspectives. The culture of rampant consumerism and careless waste of resources has zombified us all into (literal) energy suckers. Any hope for this planet lies in all of our abilities to start changing our day to day behaviors on a very deep and conscious level.

To truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and take the mounting pressure off the impending consequences of global warming, is to immediately start a global regime that puts a cap and a price on climate pollution. Subsequently, the only way that will happen is if world leaders finally become convinced that climate change is an issue, perhaps the most important issue, that matters to people. An issue that is without question going to alter and destroy the way of life we’ve all become numbly accustomed to, and impart to the global population that we all need to change the way we live, buy and vote. The threats to the environment and the future of our planet needs to be thrust to the top of every political agenda in the world, and it needs to happen now.