In response to the event ‘Midsummer lights-off, plugs-out and go outdoors’, Taichung City Government cooperated with national lights-off energy-saving on the evening of the 22nd and turned off the night lighting of Taichung City Government Building. The private business Hotel One also collaborated with the lights-off event to turn off the landscape lighting. The City Government held the promotion party to call for the: lights-off, air-conditioners-off and going outdoors to save energy, attracting over 4000 persons.

Mayor Hu hosted the lights-off ceremony at 7:50 synchronously with other counties and cities nationwide. As he pushed the ‘power switch’, the theater was in complete darkness and the new moon in the sky appeared brighter. With the instruction of Mayor Hu and other guests, the fire dance was performed; the dancers presented strength, rhythm and vitality with bright fire torches, which was breathtaking and showed an entirely different beauty with the lights and surrounding darkness.

Mayor Hu indicated that the City Council invited Level 1 directors in City Government to view ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ in City Council. The name of the City Council was well deserved for its utmost caring about the environmental protection issues. Taichung City cannot abandon ideas for the environmental protection issues in its becoming an international city. There is only one earth and everyone should strive for its maintenance, for the next generation to enjoy the resources. Chairman Hong Nian Chang also encouraged citizens to lessen the air conditioner usage as the air conditioner delivered cool air for oneself and hot air for others, leading to a hotter environment which was a negative result.

Taichung City Government reminded the citizens of the warming issue and collaborated with national promotional activities. In addition to the midsummer lights-off of the City Government Building at night, City Government convinced landmark building Hotel One to participate in the event for the joint initiation of the lights-off ceremony held in Round Theater for the Midsummer Lights-Off Concert.

Mayor Hu hosted the lights-off ceremony at 7:30 in Round Theater. He addressed the issue that energy consumption was too high and that the climate was changeable. He tended not to wear suits in response to energy-saving. The air conditioners in the offices and conference rooms in City Government were set at a proper temperature. However, energy-saving is a national activity, requiring a positive response from each family and business for energy-saving, maintaining a proper temperature of air conditioners and quickly turning off unneeded lights and the idle computers to contribute to the well-being of the earth.

The oil prices keep rising; the warming issue goes on and the strange temperature changes worldwide are evident. In addition to the warm winter issue, in the beginning of the spring in Taiwan, the temperature rises to over 30 degrees Celsius. For the dependence on air conditioners, more energy is consumed and more waste air and more CO2 are released, leading to further global temperature rises.

According to Taipower statistics, there will be nearly 30000 watts of electricity saved in 2 hours if 10000 persons participate in the midsummer lights-off event outdoors on the evening of the 22nd.consequently, Taichung City Government adopted ‘Love change and life pattern change’ as the theme, and expected citizens to join the promotion concert in outdoor Round Theater and alter their life habits: turning off lights and pulling out plugs to protect our earth.