Turn Out, Take Action!

SIX DAYS AFTER LAUNCH, EARTH HOUR LOS ANGELES TAKES OFF AS CITY OF ANGELS LIGHTS WAY FOR FIRST EVER GLOBAL VOTE FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

L.A. Citizens, Corporate and Government Buildings, Restaurants & Hospitality
Partners, Performance Venues & Comedy Troupes Pledge to Turn Out their Lights and Join the Global Movement

(LOS ANGELES) March 3, 2009 –Less than one week after officially announcing Los Angeles’ participation as a flagship city in World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2009, many corporations, government organizations, educational establishments, restaurants and hospitality organizations, entertainment venues and Angelinos from all parts of the city have committed to turning off their lights for the first ever global vote for action on climate change. On Saturday, March 28th at 8:30 p.m. the city of Los Angeles will cast its vote by turning off non-essential lighting and joining the global movement for change, Earth Hour. And that's just the first step before citizens descend on Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE, Saturday, March 28th, for the ultimate celebration for change.

Buildings & Iconic Venues "Turning Out"
More than 100 buildings and real estate development organizations citywide have committed to turning their non-essential lights out from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. on March 28th in celebration of Earth Hour.

City and Its Communities "Taking Action"

· Dine By Candlelight
· Program: a community initiative that asks residents who wish to participate in Earth Hour Los Angeles to not only turn off the lights for an hour but to spend that evening supporting local business. Participating restaurants, bars and hotels all over the city will dim their electric lights and serve dinner and drinks by candlelight while offering a special Earth Hour food or beverage menu item.
· First Participants: With support from Restaurant Week superstars Dine LA, more than 25 high profile restaurants have signed on as the list grows daily. Participants are featured on the Earth Hour LA website, with links to their sites so that residents can make reservations to spend Earth Hour Dining By Candlelight!

Dark Performances
Program: Performance venues and music icons around Los Angeles will power down their non-essential exterior lighting as music performances go acoustic and improv theaters troupes perform in the dark.
First Participants: the Groundlings' Larry Dorf & Andrew Friedman created an exclusive, hilariously 'dark' video in celebration of Earth Hour Los Angeles which can be seen on YouTube and at www.EarthHourUS.org/LosAngeles; others who have committed and should be committed (we're here all week, folks!) include:
I. O., Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade theaters are launching pads for the world's biggest names in comedy and entertainment. Legendary careers have begun on these stages, and the stars of tomorrow perform on them today. Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Mike Myers are just a few of the stars who got their starts here.
The Comedy Store is arguably the most famous comedy venue in America. Every stand-up comic you've ever heard of has performed here, including such names as Chris Rock, Jay Leno, Bill Maher and Rosie O'Donnell. It is a major destination for visitors to the nation's entertainment capital.
Amoeba Records is Los Angeles' most iconic and recognizable music store. Located in the heart of Hollywood, it features live music performances, a colorful and passionate staff, and customers who visit from all over the world to discover music they cannot find anywhere else.

· L.A. Schools & Students
First Program: During Earth Hour, the city's Partnership Schools Program will kick off competitions between teams of students to develop 'greenprints'[f1] <#_msocom_1> for their schools and collect e-waste such as old mobile phones and computers from their communities, which can be re-purposed instead of sent to landfills.
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· Paradise at Night
Program: People all over Los Angeles will stop their busy lives for one hour to get together with their kids, friends (or their entire block!) to turn off the lights and look at the stars. Residents are encouraged to get out their telescopes, download a map of the constellations and find the Big Dipper and Orion!

· Make a One-Minute Movie
Program: 60oneminutes.org is taking submissions for one-minute movies that support Earth Hour with the theme, Take Back Your Power. A selection of submissions will be broadcast on Current TV starting on Earth Hour through to Earth Day as a fun, interactive way of continuing the conversation past 9:31 p.m. on March 28[f2] <#_msocom_2> .

Earth Hour is a global movement that unites cities, businesses, schools, organizations and individuals by asking them to turn out the lights for one hour in a unified call for action on climate change. Encouraging people worldwide to become active participants in solving the urgent climate changing issues, Earth Hour L.A. will be the culmination of WWF’s global campaign that includes 800 cities in more than 80 countries. U.S. cities include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York and San Francisco. They will join international cities such as Beijing, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Moscow and Paris.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To access downloadable, hi-res logos and videos, as well as up-to-date press materials, visit http://www.brandneutral.com/wwfehla/

In 2007, the first WWF Earth Hour took place in Sydney, Australia with 2.2 million people participating. In 2008, Earth Hour went global with 50 million people on all seven continents, and Earth Hour 2009 expects to rally hundreds of millions from Fiji to Figueroa. The global initiative will activate thousands of cities from time zone to time zone, culminating in a major Turn Out, Take Action event right here in the City of Angels.

National partners for WWF's Earth Hour 2009 are Esurance, Cox Enterprises, The Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo and Hewlett-Packard.

About World Wildlife Fund and Earth Hour
Earth Hour (www.EarthHourUS.org ) is a global initiative of WWF in which millions of people around the world will cast a vote in favor of action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time. By voting with their light switches, Earth Hour participants will send a powerful, visual message to their leaders demanding immediate action on climate change. WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, stop the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.