Spotlights have played upon Iowa’s statehouse for nearly two decades, illuminating the historic building at night. But not this Saturday night. Representative Donovan Olson, a Democrat from Boone, says it’s part of the World Wildlife Federation’s energy saving exercise called Earth Hour.
"We’ll be turning off all the lights at the capital from 8:30 to 9:30 except what the F.A.A. requires. Public buildings all over the country will be doing that a the same time," Olson says, "the goal is to bring awareness to the issue of climate change and interest in reducing our energy use."
Olson says the lighting takes a lot of energy. He says in the past only the capitol dome was lit up at night. Olson says:"Over time, for beautification purposes we’ve lit up the entire capitol. Maybe we can turn off those at different times of the day and evening and do our part to limit greenhouse gas emissions."
Governor Culver put out a statement urging Iowans to participate in Earth Hour and turn off their lights Saturday night.