All residents are being asked to turn off non-essential power for one hour to recognise Earth Day.Led locally by the sustainability group Greenrock, the hour on March 26 is a symbolic event to signal commitment to the global effort to reduce the harmful effects of global warming caused by the consumption of fossil fuels and the production of carbon dioxide.Last year Earth Hour was celebrated by hundreds of millions of people from more than 128 countries and territories.Recently, the Government's Green Paper on Energy revealed that Bermuda's carbon dioxide emission per capita is 15th highest in the world at 11 tons a year - the weight of about seven Volkswagen Beetles.“This fact alone should be a wake-up call to us all. We need to change our consumption habits,” said Environment Minister Walter Roban.“Our wish, and indeed our challenge, is to increase the level of commitment to Earth Hour within our local community. So, on Saturday, March 26 we wish to invite all of Bermuda's residents to participate in this global event and turn off all non-essential electric powered items at home for one hour starting at 8.30pm, and to do the same at work and school before leaving for the weekend.”He added: “All of us need to know the importance of the unsustainable path Bermuda is on with our current energy consumption pattern. We need to protect our natural scenic environment which is a major attraction of tourists that visit our shores.“Government's support for this event should be seen as another step towards leading the effort to change our current consumption practices. The upcoming and soon to be released White Paper on Energy and our support for Earth Hour are both consistent with the commitment contained in our Sustainable Development Plan.“The Premier, along with my Cabinet colleagues fully support this initiative and we invite the whole country to participate in Earth Hour 2011 and to let this be the start of a sustained effort to conserve our energy usage beyond the hour.”Useful websites: www.earthhour.org, www.greenrock.org