Thank you, Timothy Buckley!

Montecito Journal, editorial: Lights Out Santa Barbara Good Idea, But Why Stop There? (This issue is not yet online.)

"...(I)t should be clear the only way to promte 'awareness' is to strive for baby steps in the quest to wean humans off the consumption of oil. Give people something they can tangibly accomplish and we may see a difference.

That’s why I was pleased to receive an email from a grassroots group supporting an initative aptly named ‘Lights Out Santa Barbara.’ The group has one simple goal: to convince people of Santa Barbara County to turn off all non-essential lights for one hour between 8 pm and 9 pm, Saturday October 20.

We fully support this effort. In fact, we plan to make a romantic evening of it. We’ll turn off the lights, light a few candles, andmake dinner. We will save money on our power bill, and - who knows? - this is an idea that could spread to two hours, three, four, maybe even a 24-hour cessation of all power use, including vehicles, one day a week. If the Lights Out Santa Barbara people are serious, so are we. Count us in!

We are indeed serious and count you in!