Light Pollution Reflection / Refraction Number 7

Posted on December 6, 2007

WARNING:

I guarantee my reflections and refractions will create controversy and confrontation; and quite likely I'll step on many toes, but it's time to be brutally honest. So, if you are thin-skinned proceed accordingly--take your hand off the mouse and back away from the computer.

Caucuses and Light Pollution

Have you ever heard of the Iowa caucuses? No, not the Georgia Caucasus--they're mountains far off in southwest Russia, along the border with Georgia. Confused?

January 3, 2008. The Iowa Caucuses. On Thursday night, January 3rd, everything else stops in the state! Well, not everything... Iowans go to their local caucus site and engage in the first serious step towards the election of our next president.

In very short order New Hampshire's primary takes place, followed quickly by the Nevada Caucuses. Then it's full throttle and full speed ahead with little time left for astronomers to connect with the candidates on the issue of greatest concern to us--light pollution.

How many times have you heard the words LIGHT POLLUTION fall from the mouths of ANY of the present presidential candidates?

I've not heard the words once, and I pay a lot of attention to all of them--Democrats and Republicans alike--and even some of the "none-of-the-above" candidates. Iowans are serious political junkies! And we take our "first-in-the-nation" caucuses very seriously. After all, there's nothing else to do here, you know, except watch the corn grow, shovel hog manure (you wouldn't believe how much hog hockey 18 million confined hogs can make!) and shovel snow in the winter. And there are only 3 million Iowans!

It's not surprising that light pollution is not mentioned, even though global climate change is among the top 10 issues being bantered about by many of the candidates. And make no mistake, light pollution is a major contributor to global climate change because light requires burning fossil fuels, adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

So, shouldn't light pollution be a part of the presidential campaign? Don't we deserve to hear the words "light pollution" in stump speeches and in local answers to questions posed to the candidates about global climate change?

"What's your point, Stargeezer?" Shouldn't every astronomer--every member of the IDeAs, Astronomical League, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, local astronomy club, every subscriber to every glossy astronomy magazine (including their editors) contact the candidates about the issue of light pollution and let 'em know we are a big block of votes. Shouldn't every single American astronomer send an e-mail to and/or call every candidate's campaign office about light pollution? Have you?

Of course, if only 100 astronomers do this, little or nothing will come of it! But if no fewer than 5000 of the more than 100,000 astronomers / stargazers (armchair and otherwise) in America do the deed, maybe, just maybe, some of the candidates will shine some light on this national issue!

Actually, I'm surprised the glossy astronomy magazines, their editors, and the big time dark sky orgs hadn't thought of this idea a long time ago. Must I do everything? Maybe I will have to do EVERYTHING!!

Here's a short, sample e-mail and some talking points, some ideas, you may use in your e-mail, telephone call, or written letter to the candidates. I'm sure you can think of plenty of your own ideas, too.

____________________

Good day (Candidate's name).

Historically, humans are stargazers. Every person, whether astronomer or nonastronomer, loves the sight of a dark night sky filled with starlight and the magnificent Milky Way. Starlight links us to all our ancestors and to everyone else on Earth. Every time we gaze into the night sky we affirm our connection to the cosmos.

But every night more starlight fades from view, vanishing in the overwhelming glare and glow of the light we wastefully shine up and out into the starry realm. Stargazers and astronomers call this wasteful intrusion in the night sky: light pollution.

Indeed, every night when the lights switch on over America, at least five million dollars worth of wasteful light pollution blazes skyward into what should be the star-filled domain of nighttime. Vast, sprawling, metropolitan areas, big cities, and even small towns are visible to astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle and to those orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station, but the stars are invisible to more and more people living on Earth below.

Shouldn't all this wasteful light pollution shine down directly and only on the targets of safety and security--people and property--saving millions of dollars each night, lessening our dependence on foreign fossil fuels and eliminating millions of tons of carbon dioxide contributing to global climate change?

(Candidate's name), you have the authority (and the bully-pulpit) as a candidate for president of the United States to speak out about light pollution. And upon your election as president, you can do much to put light in it's place and control light pollution, making America more energy independent and impacting global climate change.

Thank you.

Sunny Days and Milky Way Nights.

(Your name. And the name of an organization you belong to if you wish to add it.)

_________________________

Now, how do you contact each candidate's campaign? I've done most of the work for you. Below is a list of 4 candidates and their website locations. On all but two websites I quickly found a link to "Contact us".

Again, this effort will be worthwhile only when you and thousands of other astronomers out there respond with your concerns about light pollution. If you lived in Iowa or New Hampshire right now, you'd be receiving numerous telephone calls every day (especially at dinnertime) and evening--indeed, whilst writing this afternoon (December 6th) I've received two calls...oops, three calls, another candidate just rang in with an announcement that he'd be in town tomorrow! IJNE!

If you live beyond the borders of Iowa and New Hampshire, you may think unkindly of us here in Iowa and New Hampshire having the "first in the nation" whack at the candidates, but you'd soon tire of the endless phone calls and huge stacks of mail in your mailboxes, knocks on your doors, etc., etc., etc.! Besides, by the time the candidates have been through the Iowa / New Hampshire meat grinder and paper shredder, all the candidates have polished their positions and speeches and comments to a fine luster...trust us, you don't want to hear the raw, unpolished beginnings!!

Please send the URL of my website (R & R number 7) to every astronomer (and some nonastronomers) you know and tell them to:

1. read this R & R and press forward with all possible dispatch to contact all of the candidates currently running for president, and

2. please tell other astronomers to send my website on to other astronomers / stargazers. If the number of visitors to my website increases "astronomically," I'll know we astronomers are beginning to take some serious initiative on the issue of light pollution.

Here's an alphabetical list of 4 presidential candidates. D, democrat. R, republican. Now, please let the politicians hear from you about light pollution!

Hillary Clinton. D

John McCain. R

Barack Obama. D

JOIN THE DISCUSSION with your own reflections and refractions. Just click on my e-mail address below and have at it! I will not sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. Your reflections and refractions will be placed under the link to the left labeled "Fan Mail - Hate Mail." I may edit comments I place there, but I will be careful to retain your words wherever possible.

NO EXCUSES! NO EXCEPTIONS! NO COMPROMISES!