Posted on 01/31/2011 9:15:12 PM PST by americanophile
Stargazers now have their Graceland. The Channel Island of Sark, located 80 miles south of England, has been designated as the world's first dark-sky island.
Dark-sky communities are places with very little to no light pollution. As a result, the stars are far easier to see and more fun to look at. According to a buzzy article from SPACE.com, Sark is just 4.5 square miles and has "no public street lighting, no paved roads, and no cars." In other words, save for the occasional flashlight or matchstick, there aren't a lot of things to interfere with the nighttime display, which includes "meteors streaking overhead and countless stars on display."
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) makes the call on whether or not a community deserves to join their movement. And plenty would like to. The Burlington Free Press explains that dark-sky legislation "has been embraced by about 300 countries, cities, and towns." At first this might sound like something only nature enthusiasts would really care about, that's not so. The United States military is also getting behind the legislation. Too much light can interfere with drills at military bases.
And while they don't exactly get a say in the matter, it's worth noting that creatures big and small would likely also be in favor of more dark-sky rules. Again, according to the Burlington Free Press, there is evidence that "nighttime lights disturb animals and ecosystems."
(Excerpt) Read more at buzz.yahoo.com ...
It was a sark and dormy night...
...not bad
Well, we have the option to turn them on...
/johnny
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Shouldn’t need legislation for a dark sky. It’s a ridiculous concept.
Thanks a lot. Now here comes another Obama “idea”. The EPA will designate light as a “pollutant” and institute a “photon tax” to make us more like our North Korean brothers.
I agree with you.
Post of the night!!
Central Illinois?
No.
Be careful what you wish for.
Our house burned down two years ago and after fighting the insurance company for a year, I started rebuilding about a year ago.
The Town has started enforcing “dark sky” rules, which means that the only outdoor light fixtures allowed are both extraordinarily ugly, and outrageously expensive.
The regulations make no sense at all since we are adjacent to a larger city which has numerous all-night business, complete with outdoor neon signs.
The dark sky movement was invented by Stalinists to bring communism to America.
Dark sky towns are targets for criminals and gangs who can easily break into businesses and homes under cover of the Stalinist ‘dark sky’ movement.
Property owners cannot light their own back yards, the dark sky Stalinists will use the force of government to fine them if their lights are too bright, or soon,if they are incandescent.
Dark sky streets and highways are lit with useless ‘energy saving’ bulbs that don’t produce enough light for it to illuminate the pavement directly under ‘dark sky’ light fixtures.
Dark sky footpath lights and business lights that droop and point down, also have the same outcome. Not enough light to light the pavement, and the amber dull color isn’t good enough light to perform any task outside.
That’s the dark sky movement. Its not some romantic or nostalgic idea, it has its purpose just like any soviet inspired social engineering scheme.
Isn’t that Obama’s energy plan?
Its not an Obama idea, its been happening for at least 10 years. Many towns and cities whose corrupt elected officials attend ICLEI conferences bring back those Stalinist ideas and force them on citizens who don’t understand the origin of these things. California went dark under Schwarzenegger, the Austrian socialist governor.
Your elected officials must have been influenced by ICLEI.
Gezzz, either your post is the most hysterically ignorant post of the past year, or the funniest sarcastic post in the past 3 weeks...
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