Across the world, from Aenos, Greece, to Zsekic, Hungary, dark sky parks are preserving a view of the stars for locals and tourists alike.
New Mexico’s chapter of DarkSky International is working to keep our state at the forefront of night sky preservation. As New Mexico’s population grows, so does light emitted by housing developments, commercial corridors and industry. Today, many New Mexicans are no longer able to see the Milky Way. The lives of nocturnal mammals, migrating birds and many insects are disrupted. It is harder for people to sleep.
This light pollution, called skyglow, is caused by lights that shine up into the sky, not down onto roadways, paths, parking lots and playing fields where illumination is needed.
A bill to protect our stars and the rest of the night time world will soon be introduced to our state’s Legislature. Among its sponsors are two Northern New Mexico senators, Liz Stefanics and Peter Wirth. This revised Night Sky Protection Act will help diminish light pollution that threatens our view of the stars, the well-being of wild animals and our own health.
The original Night Sky Protection act was enacted by the Legislature 25 years ago. Changes in lighting technology, including LED fixtures, necessitate an update.
This bill will require new municipal, commercial and domestic lighting to be fully shielded — fixtures must be designed so light does not shine up more than 10 degrees below a horizontal plane. According to DarkSky International, a good design that minimizes upward shining light, cuts down on dark shadows and reduces blinding glare will increase safety at night.
There are exceptions in this bill for navigational lighting, film production, highway directional signs and other uses. The shielding rules would not apply to oil and gas facilities, farms, dairies and industrial locations until 2027, giving those facilities time to carefully design any new lighting installations for nighttime safety. No one is required to change existing lighting.
Some communities, such as Taos, have more stringent regulations. This proposed state law would not change these.
This bill could also be a boon to tourism. Around the world, from Maine to Spain, South Africa to Japan, more and more places are being designated as dark sky locations. Here in New Mexico, remote areas such as Clayton Lake, Chaco Canyon, Capulín Volcano and the Salinas Pueblo Missions are dark sky parks. Across our country, urban night sky places near Chicago, St. Louis, Tucson and Austin, give visitors a respite from cities’ nighttime glare. These places have begun to attract visitors who are looking for an experience beyond amusement parks and T-shirt shops. For more information see our state’s tourism website, New Mexico True: newmexico.org/darkskies/.
New Mexico’s chapter of DarkSky International (nmdarksky.org) is supporting the revised Night Sky Protection Act and is asking for volunteers to help shepherd the bill through the Legislature.
For tourist dollars, the well-being of wildlife and your own view of starry skies, urge our legislators to support the revised Night Sky Protection Act.
(1) comment
Please correct this link in the article: http://newmexico.org/dark/skies. It gets a 404 error. Thanks.
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