WHAT’S DONE?
No Excuses! No Exceptions! No Compromises!
NOT much has been accomplished! And that’s the problem.
DESPITE years of effort and tens of thousands of dollars spent, the night sky over America is more light polluted tonight than it was 20 years ago
I live in Ames, Iowa (current population 50,700). It’s a conservative little community in a conservative state.
IN 1971, when I started teaching earth science (astronomy, geology, meteorology), the Milky Way was visible, even in downtown Ames and around the local malls, where business lights were concentrated. But when I retired from teaching in 1999, the Milky Way had disappeared in the constant nightly glare and glow of wasteful light pollution.
NEITHER my students nor I were happy.
I helped launch a voluntary program to make streetlights and business lights star friendly.
IN several years, more than half of the city’s 6000 streetlights had been voluntarily capped with full cut-off fixtures that directed all their light down on the ground, and the Milky Way became visible again. A few businesses created star-friendly nighttime lightscapes, too...THANK YOU! But most did nothing. Whatever...
STILL, the “capped” streetlights themselves were enough to bring the Milky Way back to the edge of visibility, at least for a few years; and many people remarked on the changes made through this voluntary approach, which cost very little and caused no danger or loss of security.
SIMULTANEOUSLY, a group of local astronomers decided to create a lighting code in Ames. After two years of efforts involving business owners, residents and local civic / government officials, a compromised law was crafted. Finally, to make a long story short, the lighting code was brought before the city council for a final vote. But, at the last moment, one last wish was granted to the all-powerful and moneyed business community--and in a blinding instant, the Ames Lighting Code was gutted, eviscerated, disemboweled, and passed by the pro-business city council. No surprise there!
Whatever...
YOU can attempt to find the Ames Lighting Code online at the City of Ames website, but the last time I checked (6/2007), it was not available for viewing. Golly, I wonder why?
Whatever...
ONE more thing: Less than 5% of Ames citizens know there is a lighting code! And more importantly, the Ames Lighting Code has made an extraordinary difference in the night sky: Far fewer stars are visible now than were visible before it existed! Thanks for all your efforts, astronomers!
Whatever...
SO far, more than 100 local and statewide lighting decrees have been passed across America, but the blight of wasteful light is worse now than ever. And can you imagine a deeply diluted and compromised nationwide light pollution law passed by the U.S. Congress. Get real! This Congress--composed of corporate-owned republicans and democrats--agrees on little, and the next Congress--even more corporate-owned--will likely agree on less.
Whatever...
NOPE, the solution to this light pollution predicament is up to YOU. If you wait for the astronomers and their little light laws (which few people obey anyway) to solve the problem, you’ll be worm food long before you’ll ever see the Milky Way overhead!
POINT blank: If you want your children and theirs to have dark skies and views of the Milky Way, you must make it happen! Ignite a DARK SKY REVOLUTION tonight and save the Milky Way where you live or say bye, bye to starlight!
NO EXCUSES! NO EXCEPTIONS! NO COMPROMISES!
© Jack Troeger, Dark Sky Initiative. troegerj@raccoon.com