Hi Duncan2,
Thanks for asking such an interesting question on Google Answers. I
was able to find some information about Light Pollution Laws and
initiatives aimed at decreasing Light Pollution, as well as some
general survey type information on Light Pollution.
Google’s own Directory at
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Environment/Light_Pollution/
provides links to many sites with information on light pollution and
ways in which it is being addressed. A must visit for your survey of
Light pollution information.
Calgary light pollution
http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/roads/streetlight/
Calgary is a city in Canada which has a population of approximately
900,000 people. Calgary intends to retrofit all their current street
lights with “EnviroSmart” streetlights. According to the City of
Calgary website, “[Calgary is] the first city in North America to
embark on such an extensive program to retrofit residential
streetlights with new, lower wattage flat lens fixtures.”
Vermonts approach to Light Pollution from a new Prison
http://www.buildinggreen.com/news/stellafane.html
Another interesting approach to light pollution was undertaken in
Vermont where a prison was being built. The astronomical society
raised an objection over the amount of Light Pollution that would
inevitably result from the prison, the state hired a lighting
contractor to come up with a solution. The solution was “Light
Pollution Mitigation”. Basically, the contractor said that while there
would be an increase in light pollution from the prison, if the state
will help fund better lighting for local businesses in the area, the
net result would be the same or less pollution as a net effect.
A good meta site which plenty of links and information about current
light pollution topics can be found at:
http://members.aol.com/ctstarwchr/
There, they list current happenings in the quest to keep light
pollution to a minimum. For example, a story posted on October 27,
2002 tells of Middletown and Portland, Oregon and their desire to
place lights on a bridge: to illuminate the bridge! There is
information on the site that only 5% of the light will fall on the
bridge: the other 95% will become light pollution.
More to your question of regulation, again, Google Directory has a
number of sites of interest. You can find the directory page here:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Environment/Light_Pollution/Regulation/
There are some states which have specific laws regarding Light
Pollution.
For example, in Arizona, all lights must be shielded in some way to
prevent light pollution (with some exceptions for airports and
municipal street lights where no shielding exists).
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/49/title49.htm (section 7 contains
the statute on Light pollution)
Also, other states have current proposed legislation. For example,
Massachusetts has a bill under review which would seek to limit
Outdoor Night Lighting and Reduce Light Pollution. You can find the
proposed bill here:
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/nelpag/BILL.html
I sincerely hope this helps with your survey of light pollution. If
you need any further clarification to this answer, please don’t
hesitate to ask prior to rating this answer!
Thanks again for using Google Answers.
Search strategy (web and directory):
Light Pollution
Calgary Light Pollution
Light Pollution Regulation
Light Pollution Laws |
,
0 Comments
)