Practical way to reduce light pollution exists

First published: Monday, January 28, 2002

Regarding Michele McColgan's Jan. 21 letter, "More research needed on reducing light pollution'':

Many states and municipalities, including Arizona, Tucson, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, New Jersey, California, Los Angeles, Calgary and others already have statutes or programs in place designed to reduce the amount of unnecessary and excessive outdoor lighting or light pollution on roadways and in cities.

The state of Connecticut is switching to full cutoff luminaires for new and replacement roadway lighting. Full cutoffs do not allow light to escape above the horizontal and instead illuminate the intended target, such as the street or sidewalk, rather than shining directly into the eyes of pedestrians or motorists, thereby reducing glare and sky glow and enhancing visibility.

The city of Calgary is in the process of retrofitting all 49,000 residential streetlights from 200-watt, drop-dish fixtures to 100-watt, flat-lens full cutoffs.

Calgary is not only reducing light pollution but also saving energy and therefore money at the same time. Their decision was based on fiscal ingenuity as well as environmental concerns.

The reason these entities are able to make the switch without increasing lighting is because new lighting criteria take into consideration glare reduction and visibility enhancement rather than just considering the total amount of illumination.

It is unusual for New York state to be so far behind on innovations designed to protect our natural resources. Gov. George Pataki should continue his tradition of supporting common sense environmental initiatives and sign a comprehensive light pollution bill into law.

ROBERT FOSTER

Legislative Director Citizens Campaign for the Environment Albany