Conservation Corner
Our sponsored Light Pollution Bill, AB 2382 was vetoed by the governor. In his veto letter, the governor referred to existing (and in our opinion, grossly inadequate) building codes, cost and safety (which we believe to have been addressed in the bill as proposed). We are greatly disappointed, and will consider trying again in the future.
Read more about light pollution in this recent article in the Los Angeles Times and in this recent opinion in The Mercury News, written by Travis Longcore, a speaker at our symposium below.
SAVE THE DATE: Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and the Sierra Club are organizing a symposium titled, “Light at Night: A Glowing Hazard,” to focus on light pollution and bird friendly design on the afternoon of November 16. You will have a chance to learn and to ask questions of the leading experts in the field! Please stay tuned.
Our friends at Green Foothills are currently accepting applications for their Leadership Program for 2023. This program is for Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito County residents. The Leadership Program is an 8-month training program preparing participants for leadership roles at nonprofits, public agencies, companies, and community-based groups where they advance initiatives for environmental conservation, justice, and inclusive public processes. Scholarships are available. Application and more information.
ADVOCATES MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Success story from Sunnyvale: Rani Fischer, our new Environmental Advocacy Assistant wrote a letter to the editor regarding light invading her home from an adjacent development. Her letter prompted the City of Sunnyvale to contact the polluter and require that lighting be projected downwards, without spilling into neighbors homes and property. Here is Rani’s letter:
Stop light pollution in Sunnyvale
Every night bright lights pour into my living room from the Fortinet building a half mile away here in Sunnyvale. I shield my eyes when I go to the kitchen to get a drink of water so that I can fall back asleep.
Since I live on the edge of a residential area that abuts office parks, the lighting ordinance (SMC 19.42.050) for residences doesn’t apply to me. The spotlights are an unjustifiable source of light pollution and waste of energy. Also, they disorient the hundreds of thousands of birds that migrate every spring and autumn as well as the insects upon which the birds feed. In humans these high-spectrum lights, especially LEDs, suppress melatonin, causing insomnia which damages neuroendocrine and cardiovascular systems, and even exacerbates cancer.
Light pollution is a dangerous problem with an easy solution. Sunnyvale should follow Cupertino and Salt Lake City and create a dark-sky ordinance.