E-mail campaign urges power shutdown to protest U.S. energy policy

E-mail campaign urges power shutdown to protest U.S. energy policy

By Robert Tanner
AP national writer

The electronic message doesn't beckon like "I Love You" or a sexy tennis star. No flash, no sizzle and no damage to the hard drive. Just a call for people to turn off their lights tonight to protest President Bush's energy policies.

But like a benign virus, this e-mail protest is spreading - from college friends' computer in-boxes to Sierra Club newsletters to dump-Bush Web sites.

Its proponents hope for a rolling, voluntary blackout across the country and a brief drop in electricity use.

Knoxville environmentalists like the intent of the campaign, although some think green-minded East Tennesseans can choose actions that are more effective.

And whether people across the nation will respond to the message is uncertain. It joins a series of e-mail-driven environmental campaigns in recent weeks, inspired by California's energy crisis, rising gas prices and the Bush administration's stance on conservation and global warming.

"It's a simple thing and a meaningful thing to do," said David Stitzhal, a Seattle environmental consultant. He got the e-mail from a friend and passed it on to a few others with his address mistakenly attached. Now he gets e-mails nearly every day from strangers for and against.

The "roll your own blackout" asks people to turn off their lights and unplug their appliances for three hours this evening. Those drawn to the voluntary blackout like the symbolism: pull the plug, disconnect from the electric grid.

Shut off the lights, the television, the stereo, the air conditioner and, yes, even the computer that's spreading the message.

The e-mail has since bounced to chat rooms, Web sites and newsletters of Sierra Club chapters in Tennessee, Kentucky and New Hampshire. Some online conversations note June 21 is the longest day of the year - not the best time to notice darkened homes.

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said he first saw the e-mail several months ago.

"I've received it no less than 20 different times," Smith said. "It's like a ping-pong ball - it keeps bouncing around cyberspace."

Smith said his organization is not actively encouraging citizens to participate in the blackout because, "We always encourage people to conserve energy and turn off any lights they don't need."

Elizabeth Dixon, chairperson of the Sierra Club's Harvey Broome Group based in Knoxville, says her organization supports the blackout as a matter of choice.

"It's more of an activity that gives people a feeling that they are involved and connected but it's not likely that the energy producers will care," Dixon said. "It would be more effective if people would sign up for green power with KUB or urge their utility to participate in green power."

The White House isn't paying much attention to the e-mail - a spokesman says it mischaracterizes the administration. "The president believes that conservation and renewable energy development are very important," spokesman Jimmy Orr said.