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Toronto Pearson is the first airport in North America to participate in Earth Hour 2008

March 7, 2008, Toronto - The GTAA has added Toronto Pearson to the list of businesses all over the world that will be participating in Earth Hour on March 29, 2008.


March 7, 2008  By Carey Fredericks

March 7, 2008, Toronto – The GTAA has added Toronto Pearson to the list
of businesses all over the world that will be participating in Earth Hour on
March 29, 2008, making it the first airport in North America to commit to this
landmark event.
        Earth Hour was first observed in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Wanting to
take a stand and deliver a powerful message about the need for action on
global warming, Sydney created Earth Hour and the simple action of turning off
the lights for one hour. During that one hour in 2007, more than 2.2 million
people and 2,100 businesses participated by turning off their lights, which
resulted in energy reduction equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the road.
        In 2008, Earth Hour has gone global. More than 4,000 business and
millions of people from some of the world's largest cities, including Toronto,
Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for
Earth Hour. Toronto is the lead city in Canada participating in this event and
Toronto Pearson, along with the rest of the city, will do its part to raise
the awareness of global warming.
        "The GTAA is very excited to be taking part in this significant event. In
a show of support for action on climate change, we are committed to
participating and turning off as many lights as possible without impacting on
passenger safety and operations," said Lloyd McCoomb, President & CEO of the
GTAA.
        The GTAA's goal is to save 4 megawatts of power between 8:00 pm and 9:00
pm, which will result in an 11 per cent reduction in energy consumption at the
airport for the day. This will be accomplished by a reduction in lighting and
HVAC in Terminals 1 and 3, a reduction of lighting in the Central Utilities
Plant and by operating only one Link train during the hour.

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