As part of a global call for action on climate change, King County will join hundreds of millions of people and tens of thousands of organizations by having its nonessential facilities go dark for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight, March 26.

“Turning off the lights for one hour is a positive gesture to call attention to the relationship between energy use and climate change,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “The real challenge is translating this gesture into earth-friendly actions we can take at all hours of every day.”

Constantine signed a proclamation in support of Earth Hour 2011, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). From King County, to London, to Australia, skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools, and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what is billed as the largest climate awareness event in history.

The executive said the lights will stay on where needed at county facilities for public safety, security and essential operations. Building superintendents will see that nonessential lighting will be off from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“We encourage residents and businesses to think about their energy use and turn off all non-essential lights, electrical appliances, electronics, and machines,” said

Earth Hour is a global WWF initiative that began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people all over the world took part in the action. In 2009 almost 1 billion people worldwide switched off their lights and in 2010, Earth Hour involved 4,200 cities in 125 countries.

Learn more about Earth Hour at http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx.