Star Points for September, 2001; by Curtis Roelle Whatever Happened to Carroll's Star Spangled Sky? One of this summer's big news stories was the energy shortage that led to rolling blackouts and significantly higher energy prices over the previous year in California. The reported blackouts not only took out refrigerators resulting in warmer cucumbers but also knocked out factories, offices, and traffic signals resulting in lost productivity while diverting law enforcement resources away from fighting crime to fighting gridlock at blacked out intersections. Mixed in with this was the political finger pointing. Was the energy shortage a result of too much or too little deregulation by the previous governor and the legislature? Did the crisis come about because certain members of the advisory board, who were hand- picked by the current governor, had conflicts of interest due to their ownership of stock in electrical utility companies? Beyond the California politics was the news that energy conservation helped in reducing the demand. Unfortunately, this conservation was driven by higher energy costs and the threat of rolling blackouts. Cooling temperatures also helped to ease demand through reduced use of air conditioning. What does this have to do with astronomy, you ask? An amateur astronomer and his wife from San Diego were recent visitors at our home observatory. They reported that back home the energy crisis has dramatically decreased the number of unnecessary and wasteful outdoor lights visible from their back yard at night. A silver lining to the crisis indeed. They reported anecdotally that their gas and electric rates rose between 200-300% in a single year. How lucky we are that a similar crisis has not affected Carroll County. Still, when I look at my electric bill the rates don't seem all that low. Yet when traveling around county at night one sees tremendous waste in unnecessary and misdirected outdoor lighting, or "light pollution." For instance, there's an enormous tower being constructed in Union Bridge whose bubble of light can be seen from miles away even when the tower is below the horizon. If it were located in a city such as Baltimore it would hardly be noticed. Yet, in the rural countryside of western Carroll County it sticks out like a dead tree. Car dealers have a reputation for notoriously gaudy lighting. Granted, they want customers to be able to see what they're buying. But that should not be an excuse for drowning out star light with wasteful sideways pointing light packs that spray much of their light output up instead of down. A better solution are downward pointing lights capped with reflector shields. That way all of the light gets directed and reflected down to where it should be wanted most: On their show lot. As an added bonus a car dealer may find that they could achieve the same illumination with fewer watts using less electricity and thus save money. These savings could then be passed on the customer. Among the very worst light polluters in the county are the public schools. Many of them feature exteriors which are very poorly illuminated because it appears that their lighting engineer's rule of thumb is "the more watts the better." The light fixtures on tall masts are misdirected and in some cases point in a nearly horizontal direction. This means that almost half of the light beaming from the fixture is lighting the bellies of airplanes and nocturnal birds instead of illuminating school property. When I drive past a school on a foggy night and see the orange haze above it I think of the tax dollars being wasted to light up that cloud. The squandered tax money might be better spent on education. We all need light but wasteful energy misuse must be eliminated. Besides the economic cost caused by waste bad lighting is marring the once starry sky over Carroll County. What citizen would tolerate an act of vandalism on a natural landmark? The night sky is a resource that belongs to everyone but where has the Milky Way gone? It is a mere ghost of its former self because of wasted lighting. Light pollution isn't a toxic form of pollution (unless you count the byproducts from electrical power plants such as the soot from burning coal). Unlike air pollution, when a light is turned off or shielded the adverse effects stop immediately. There is no lingering pollutants as their are with land fills or polluted lakes. With light pollution there are no "clean up" costs. On the local level county residents can help by turning off unused outdoor lights. If you're not using the deck, turn off the flood light. Save money and energy and help restore the inspiring sight of the stars against a dark sky. A neighboring light that trespasses onto another's property or into someone's window is similar to unwanted noise pollution or smoke from burning rubbish. If a person complains about a noisy neighbor do the nuisance laws suggests ear plugs for a remedy? Of course not. If a person complains about irritating smoke billowing onto his property what court would order the placement of a clothespin over the nose? Absolutely none. Similarly, suggesting that a person pull down the blinds to keep out a trespassing light is equally absurd. The issue of light pollution is nonpartisan. It is not a leading "green" issue although it has been linked with threats to wildlife including nocturnal birds and migrating turtles. Light pollution is a quality of life issue. Who doesn't want to pass along the heritage of the night sky to our children? The same night sky that was known to the ancients who could see the Milky from the center of the largest metropolises of their day. We should each be more aware of employing good energy use and eliminating waste in our fixtures and consumption. Lights should be shielded with all light pointing down below the horizontal to where it's needed. Flood lights should be triggered by timed motions detectors which does two things: (1) controls energy usage and (2) produces a sudden light that startles intruders. Let each of us think of ways to curb energy usage in our own situations. Why not reduce the problem of energy waste before another energy crisis takes care of it for us.