“It’s a matter of being part of the community effort,” Mayor Smith said.

“We should take part in these energy saving activities.

“Anything to save energy.”

Earth Hour was first held in Sydney on March 31, 2007. More than two million businesses and households turned off their lights for one hour as a message to the world that it is possible to take action against global warming.

This year Earth Hour will be held nationwide on March 29, 2008 at 8 pm.

At this time, Mayor Smith said he would turn his lights off whilst having dinner, but probably have the TV on.

“It has not been done in Tenterfield before,” Mayor Smith said.

From his travels, Mayor Smith has noticed that Australian energy conservation could be better.

“I noticed in Europe that they were a long way ahead of us using solar panels to put power back into their grids, and houses generally had solar panels on them,” Mayor Smith said.

“Once Tenterfield used to generate all of its own electricity. Electricity now comes from a lot of sources, including Country Energy.”

Mayor Smith sees his role for this event as being an informant for the community in an exercise that is beneficial for the environment.

“Anyway to save water and electricity is a benefit,” Mayor Smith said.

A video of the Earth Hour held in Sydney is available on the Earth Hour website www.earthhour.org. The organisers of the event hope that the people of Tenterfield will get involved and help take a stand against global warming.

B Anyone interested in participating in forming a neighbourhood Earth Hour team is asked to contact the Tenterfield Star on 67361799.