Go Find Three Things That You Can Turn Off, RIGHT NOW

The article in today's NYT sounds just like the stories from this time last year:

A heat wave sizzling across the West showed little sign of letting up Thursday, with Las Vegas forecast to tie a record high and even northern Idaho expected to top 100 degrees.

''You can become dehydrated really quick before you know it. You step outside and, 'wow,''' said Charlie Schlott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas was expected to hit 116, which would tie a record for the date set in 1985. Near-record highs were also forecast for Southern California, where the mercury was expected to top 115 in desert.

A high of 101 was forecast Thursday in Spokane, Wash., and nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which would exceed the record of 100 set in 1975. Friday's forecast didn't hold much relief from the nearly weeklong heat wave, either.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the opening of state cooling centers in 13 counties, and the operator of the statewide power grid ask Californians to try to conserve energy to avoid brownouts.

Turn off all of the electrical appliances that you don't need. Pay special attention to so-called "vampires" -- appliances that use electricity even when they're "off". These include many chargers such as cell phone chargers, mp3-player chargers, Blackberry chargers, etc. They also include tvs, for example, that display LED clocks even when the tv is turned to "off". Every electron that you don't use means less greenhouse gasses and less chance of blackouts.