President's Message

The other night I went outside our house hoping to see the Perseid meteor shower. I'd waited until after 2 am, figuring that most people would be asleep, that it would be fairly dark (for L.A., anyway) and that I stood the best chance of glimpsing the annual celestial fireworks.

Walking around the front, back, and sides of the house, I sought a dark area that would give me a clear view of the sky. But no matter where I went, I couldn't find a spot that wasn't filled with light: the streetlights and neighbors' porch lights in the front, the 200-watt backyard light from the neighbors next to us, security lights from the elementary school down the street, klieg lights from the police academy two miles away, and so on. Most of these lights shone in every direction, even where they served no useful purpose. And all of these lights were on at a time when there was next to no one awake to see them.

I was struck by all of the electricity wasted to power these lights, by all of the extra heat we were dumping into the warm August air, and how we were depriving ourselves of the stars around us. It's a well-known fact that we Angelenos have created a "light bubble" around our city that can be seen for hundreds of miles. Even in the darkest parts of the Mojave Desert or the local mountains, one can see the glow that our city casts into the night sky.

The International Dark-Sky Association, a group of amateur and professional astronomers and people who simply enjoy seeing a starry sky, has advocated that cities and individuals take certain measures to minimize light pollution in their areas: putting shades and downward reflectors on streetlamps to prevent stray light from heading into space, adjusting the locations and positions of stadium lights to ensure that most of the light goes where it's intended, selecting light fixtures for homes and businesses that minimize light losses, adjusting timing and duration of security lights, and the like. Several cities have implemented these measures and had great success in improving the viewing quality of their night skies, as well as saving millions in utilities and other costs.

Mind you, I understand the need for security, particularly around the home: our house was broken into awhile back and there are few things that make one feel more vulnerable than to know that strangers have violated one's living space. And one of the most common measures to improve household security is to install additional outdoor security lights. But there are better ways to handle security lighting than the "light everything, everywhere, all the time" approach that's in common use. Such better ways ensure that the security lights do what they're intended while giving us all a better view of the universe around us.

Steve Bartlett