Part of the problem and I admit my leanings and bioases here is our
current musclehead governor and others are willing to do a lot to make
business very happy. So of it is justified but often it decays to "let
businesses do what rhey want with pretty much zero restriction." I
have spoken to people about Light Pollution and they treated me as if I
were sopme kind of freak. Note this did not happen in California but in
West Virginia and Ohio. I was told things like "Aaah think the safety of
my teenager daughter is more immportasnt than your desire to see
Anti-Aries or whatever the helll it is..." All I wanted they to do was
to install reasonable lighting fixtures that would not ruin the viewing
in a medium sized town. I know I could drive 5 miles out but I didn't
have a car and it was nive to walk 200 meters and see 5th magnituide
stars at leas thr Milky Way.
I remember there was a radio show I helped do some of the production for
and there was a professional astronomer aand she was discusssing her
envounters with highway engineers who were werdered out that "she was a
girl" andhow much she knew so much about highway lighting asnd why she
should be opposed to continous output spectrum etc.
To use one of those old phrases that sounds dated, it is hard to raise
peoples' consiousness about these issues. I am debating on doing a radio
show about astronomy, meteorology etc. and as long as we can keep the
astrologers and hardcore predicting the rapture maybe some real good
might come of it and dare I say conmsciounessses may get raised.;)
Have Fun,
Sends Steve
P.S. My joints etc. are being measn to me today, so I have taken
pharmacologival counteremeasures...so please excuse spelling errors
etc.
Jeff Crilly wrote:
>Fyi.. I read a blurb in the palo alto daily yesterday that
>said that the menlo cadilac dealer (on el camino) was closing doors for good.
>
>The city council is quite dismayed by this, and is pressing
>forward for plans to build an automall on the east side
>of 101 in menlo park.
>
>Go figure.
>
>The problem with these ordinances is that they are rarely retroactive, correct?
>
>Another LP caution.. I noticed lots of new housing going
>in by the new 85/101 intersection near mogan hill.
>
>Speaking of the central valley... its always surprised
>me how bad the sky is when I'm driving north to redding,
>or east to yosemite/tahoe. Surprisingly, I'd figure
>the valley to be pretty dark.. but it seems always washed
>out. Plus, the atmospheric conditions arent great.. there's
>also fog to contend with.
>
>--- Bruce Jensen <bpnjensen@No-Spam> wrote:
>
>
>
>>There is a movement underway to have a lighting statute established in
>>California, in part to remedy this type of thing and preserve the night
>>sky as a part of humanity's cultural and scientific heritage. This is
>>critical, because there are a number of municipalities that are unwilling
>>to to do this on their own.
>>
>>Hopefully a lighting ordinance would encourage light to be aimed downward
>>and not in anyone else's eyes, and kept to a reasonable useful level.
>>That is probably enough to ask overall.
>>
>>Bruce Jensen
>>************
>>--- Michael Linnolt <ml@No-Spam> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Last nite I was driving back to the bay from Tahoe after a wonderful
>>>skiing trip, and late at night the shies were clear, and I could note
>>>the
>>>changes in sky conditions as I headed back into town. Most of the Tahoe
>>>area is very dark, once you get out of the immediate vicinity of the
>>>towns
>>>lining the lake shore. Similarly for Hwy 50 as you head back west. A
>>>little LP in Placerville, but the trouble begins around Cameron Park and
>>>El Dorado. By the time you are down in Folsom, the skies are actually
>>>worse than around SF! I could only make out the belt stars in Orion!
>>>
>>>I was horrified to see the worst LP-er is the Folsom Auto mall
>>>complex. This area is several hundred acres of totally unshielded
>>>mercury
>>>lamps in a densely packed arrangement. This was late on a Sunday night,
>>>when nobody is shopping for cars! The glare light was so intense, I had
>>>to drop my sunvisor and the neighboring apartment complexes were
>>>illuminated so brightly they had no need for outdoor security
>>>lighting. Funny. A few lumens saved, I guess.
>>>
>>>Doesn't this violate some ordnance or something? Its just such a gross
>>>violation and intrusion and total waste of energy, unbelievable. Anyone
>>>know who to contact in Folsom to try to put a stop to that? Lucky I dont
>>>live anywhere near that, but if such things were to come anywhere around
>>>SJ, say goodbye to observing at Coe!
>>>
>>>Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>=====
>>Cheers,
>>Bruce Jensen
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>__________________________________
>>Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday!
>>Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web
>>http://birthday.yahoo.com/netrospective/
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon Mar 7 17:35:48 2005