In a world first for artificial light festivals, the Smart Light Sydney Light Walk will turn off more power on the city grid than it uses, thanks to a switch-off campaign in conjunction with the Property Council of Australia.
Smart Light Sydney will celebrate sustainable innovations and the future of low-energy lighting design when it lights up Sydney, starting tomorrow night and running for three weeks.
A major component of Vivid Sydney, Smart Light Sydney will take place from 26 May to 14 June, headlined by a free public Light Walk including Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Circular Quay and Sydney Opera House.
Taking place nightly from 6pm to midnight, the Light Walk will encompass 25 light art installations, showcasing smart lighting techniques such as low energy, recycled materials, new technologies, innovative design and renewable power sources.
The switch-off lights campaign, incorporating some of the major properties located within the Light Walk precinct, will offset the low levels of energy being used by the Light Walk’s installations to ensure the event creates a minimal environmental impact.
This morning, President Barack Obama signed two executive orders that could be remembered as the critical turning point toward achieving real energy independence and stopping global warming.
President Obama directed the EPA to review the Bush administration's denial of a waiver request by California to cut global warming pollution from automobiles. The president also ordered the Transportation Department to enact short-term rules on how automakers can improve the fuel efficiency of their new models.
Politically, what President Obama said was at least as important as what he signed.
The President's powerful statement affirming his commitment to moving aggressively to cut global warming emissions and unleash America's clean energy future laid out clear goals for action in the coming weeks and months.
The President's plan—including the next step of a cap on carbon pollution—means more new jobs, a rebirth for the American auto industry, and less global warming pollution.
[from David Yarnold Director of the Environmental Defense Fund]
