Photo by cycletheghostround.

It’s 8:30 this evening. Lights suddenly dim all around you, in some cases going out all together.

No, it’s not an Alex Proyas tale come to life. It’s Earth Hour, when environmental activists encourage everyone to turn off the power for an hour to show their disdain for climate change. Unsurprisingly, Washington, D.C. was a flagship city for last year’s event, and once again the Wilson Building, the Reeves Center and One Judiciary Square will turn off all non-essential lighting. Around town, both the National Cathedral and the Smithsonian Castle will go dark this year. A bunch of hotels will be serving special candlelight dinners during the hour, and George Washington University will host “blackout” and “glow-in-the-dark” parties in residence halls and will have a Battle of the Bands at the Marvin Center in the blackness.

As fun as it all sounds, it wouldn’t be a climate change effort without some kind of opposition — the Competitive Enterprise Institute is celebrating “Human Achievement Day” and telling folks to turn everything up to eleven. But with 121 countries tuning out, it seems like most people, as The Hill Is Home points out, are actually looking forward to a break from the constant visual noise of living in the city. If it happens to help the environment, all the better.

Will you, dear reader, be shutting down for an hour this evening?