Sydney — as been scheduled earlier — went dark Saturday night with an effort to go ‘green.’ To register concern about global warming, Australia’s largest city along with its gleaming white-shelled roofed Sydney Opera House had switched off the lights.
Along with dozens of skyscrapers and the 4 million-strong city’s countless homes, the arch of Sydney’s other iconic structure — the harbor bridge — was also blacked out. The restaurants throughout the city were also worth seeing. They held candlelit dinners, and families started to gather in public places to take part in a countdown to lights out. In response to this event, they send up a cheer as lights started blinking off.
One by one, the buildings went dark at 7:30 p.m. though some city skyscrapers’ floors remained lit. Even the security and street lights, including those at commercial port operations and at a sports stadium stayed on.
Mayor Clover Moore said,
(Sydney was) asking people to think about what action they can take to fight global warming.
Attending a harbor-side function to watch the event, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett said,
It’s an hour of active, thoughtful darkness, a celebration of our awakening to climate change action.
Photo: AP/Paul Miller