FFWD Weekly
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City by Tom Babin Light pollution, they say, makes Earth the only planet that glows in the dark – and if a select group of astronomers and conversationalists are to be believed, Calgary is Western Canada's beacon to the universe. Street and city lights spill enough excess into the air that at night, the city can be seen from space in a concentration greater than Vancouver, says one local astronomer. In the winter, snow reflects the light and creates an orange haze that can be seen on the ground from more than 100 kilometres away. Local astronomers say this light pollution makes it increasingly difficult to see the stars – even from the University of Calgary's Rothey Astrophysical Observatory near Priddis, south of the city. In addition, the escaping light is a waste of energy and money, but the city's engineering department says there is no easy solution to the problem. The biggest critics of light pollution come from the astronomical community. A group of astronomers in the Unites States has even formed a Dark Sky Society that has grown to include chapters all around the world (including Alberta) and has successfully lobbied for legislation to reduce light pollution in a number of municipalities – most of those cities are near important observatories. In Calgary, no such legislation exists. Dr. E.F. Milone, co-director of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, which holds one of Canada's largest functioning telescopes, says light pollution from the city is so bad, observatory workers have been forced to invent equipment to see around it. "Calgary is a profligate city as far as wasting light is concerned," Milone says. "It throws (light) upwards into the sky and therefore we lose our ancient sky heritage, and don't know what's up there. And secondly, we throw money into the sky, because that's what it amounts to." Some astronomers have publicly stated concerns that children in urban areas with excessive lighting may grow up without ever seeing the stars. However, local lighting engineer Ken Maskell, who owns his own company, says the expense of replacing city lights with less polluting models may not be worth the cost. He explains that the energy savings generated by more efficient models may be so expensive that the city wouldn't save any money in the long run. "Light pollution is not rocket science. Basically, if you keep the light on the ground where it's intended and don't use more than you have to, then that's all you can do," Maskell says. "The reason for the use of irresponsible lighting equipment is it's cheaper." He adds that the problem in Calgary may never be big enough to motivate the city to change its 70,000 lights to less polluting models. "Talking about an urban area like Calgary... the only people it's really affecting is the observatory," Maskell says. The city's street lighting coordinator, Barry Poon, agrees. He says the city acknowledges the problems with light pollution, but it uses the most cost-effective light fixtures available. He adds that although other fixtures have less "spillage," the concentration of light means more poles would have to be installed to maintain the minimum lighting standard recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. "For every one person who calls complaining about light pollution, we get probably more than 10 calling for more lighting," he says. "Calgary is very much an urban setting. We'd love to be able to see the stars, absolutely, but it is an urban centre and there are things like crime that are issues. "We're trying to be sensitive as best we can, but sometimes it's a no-win situation." The Dark Sky Society argues that light at night does more to increase people's feelings of safety than actually make them safer. However, Poon points out that a city proposal to dim lights late at night was nixed by city police a few years ago, and says using more observatory-friendly bulbs can reduce visibility on roads. The city is experimenting with ways to reduce light pollution in residential areas – trial areas are being set up that use lower-watt bulbs – but there are no plans to reduce lighting on major roadways for safety reasons. Milone says efforts to reduce light pollution are also being undertaken in other areas, and several communities surrounding Calgary have lobbied for less light pollution so the night sky remains visible. Locally, a group of citizens is taking part in a meeting this week to try to scrap a plan to put up a light-tower at Shaw Millennium Park on 9th Avenue S.W. out of fear it will interfere with the nearby Calgary Science Centre's ability to see the stars. Maskell says light pollution may never become a true hot-button issue in Calgary because there is no overriding issue to rally behind. Milone, however, disagrees. "I think taxpayers are being more and more made aware that this is just a wasted resource and a waste of their tax dollars," he says. "If we can press that point home, I think it's all to the good."

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