Y2Kyoto: Vancouver Goes Back To The Dark Ages

Of course Vancouver council is just full of aspiring astronomers

Progressive (pruh-gres-iv): noun: A person who believes it is necessary to eradicate progress, usually for the children.

Yes, cut out light in the city,make it way easier for muggers and rapists to hide in the shadows.

For F***'s sake!

When I moved to Vancouver in 1966,it was a great city,well run, but over the years every nutcase from all over Canada and a few home growns have turned this city into a laughingstock.

They won't be laughing so much when the first victim is brought in to the local morgue.

And dont even get them started on 2nd hand light pollution. I can hardly wait until the Chinese take over in the lower mainland. Maybe get some sanity back down there.

no question the fruits and nuts run this place.

The rapists, night stalkers, B and E artists are lovin' it. Ask the cops what increased darkness means to their workload.

Time for a new "Fluorescent Tax"....

A councillor here in my BC town fought against a street light in her neighbourhood as "it would attract criminals". You just cannot fix stupid.

This is an initiative that's long overdue. Lilley is blowin' smoke here. This is not a new concept and is not "progressive" in origin. The "dark sky" initiative started out about 20 years ago. Its not about turning off the lights (other than the superfluously unnecessary, its about installing fixtures that don't waste the light they emit. One of the principal enhancements is the use of low cut-off light fixtures for exterior lighting and especially streetlamps. Many light fixtures simply toss buckets of light upward into the sky because their design permits it. There's plenty of engineering data for municipalities that shows with proper fixture installation, bulb wattages required drop substantially. Municipalities that have done this have realized upwards of 58% reduction in the hydro cost of providing municipal illumination. Some municipalities have even required residential exterior fixtures to be installed that restrict skyward emission of light. In addition to the significant power savings, urban night skies do return, and nobody's afety is compromised. Night visibility is actually improved because there is much less glare.

There must be something about the west coast of North America, from San Diego to Vancouver, that makes people act (become) like idiots.

My suspicion is that this is really about electrical power generation and global warming and 1st world privilege and government power and self flagellation .... especially self flagellation. It's "pollution" don't ya know.

Oh, and just for the record, amateur astronomers (backyard star gazers) will NEVER get a dark sky near any major city unless we go back to candles and gas lights.

And while I'm not an expert on birds, I am not aware of any migrating birds that fly at night. Anybody know more about that?

http://darksky.org

Trying for that North Korea "look".

I agree with Skip. This is not a Left/Right issue but the baying hounds of the Right sure are trying to make it one.

Light pollution is like any other sort of pollution, where something -- in this case light -- ends up where it doesn't need to be and can have deleterious effects. Certainly, there have been numerous studies that night lights can adversely affect people, plants, and animals.

And which of you baying hounds want to take a stand that it's all for the best if we spend money on unneeded light? To me it sounds like they are trying to reduce overflow light and to direct light where it's needed instead of having it spill over into the sky, surrounding buildings, etc.

While Vancouver has a well-deserved reputation for being a bit on the nutty side, this is a an effort to be applauded as long as they implement any policy wisely, weighing the costs and the benefits judiciously.

And soon before you can say VITAMEATVEGIMIN the eco-wackos will be demanding all street lights be banned over some bugs or this Light Polution poppycock their always yammering about ENVIROMENTALISM is a PLUAGUE brought on by Racheal Carson,Al Gore the various eco-freak groups and marathon views of crap movies like AVATAR and WATERWORLD

If you believe sorting and recycling your garbage should be compulsory but vaccinating your children should be optional, then you are a Mayor Moonbeam loving progressive.

"And while I'm not an expert on birds, I am not aware of any migrating birds that fly at night. Anybody know more about that?"
Don't know about other species, but in late fall, well past midnight, you can hear the cacophony of geese flying overhead. Quite impressive really.
One should also beware of 'incoming' munitions!

Adriane Carr is the Vancouver Green Party leader, former BC Green Party leader and married to Paul George who originally, was posted to Canada during the Viet Nam War and never returned home, is a long time Tree Hugger and Western Canada Wilderness Committee Chairman / media darling. Vancouver City Council resembles an insane asylum of green flakes. The bureaucracy of the City could run it for years without these flakes ever having a single meeting so this is typical of what they do.

Try to imagine East Hastings in total darkness!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2s-4Aj5Dlk

One the star gazers get the lights turned out they will have to talk to someone about getting the nearly always cloudy skies that will hide those pesky stars.

Skip is correct on all counts. As an astronomer I have been following this for years. The engineering of more efficient use of urban lighting does not cause less visibility. It simply stops us from lighting up the sky. Less power is required for the illumination.
I have always pointed out to my global warmalista opponents that if they actually wanted to cut back on coal power generation the easiest and most cost efficient way of doing it would be to cut back on the power used by the biggest consumers: cities.
By putting the light where it's needed you don't need so much of it.

Cripes. Turn all the lights out for Vancouver. Stanley park can become Central Park. Then the leftards can claim they are in the big leagues! Just make sure they send everybody to North Van, with APCs and bulldozers.

Same moonbeams who banned door knobs

Arcata California has realy gone eco-wacko crazy I mean during one Earthday celebration one memebr of their city council arived ina bike and dressed as a fish

First they came for nuclear power...

Contain all that escaping light ! Light pollution ! You people really have to get a life or get back on your meds or get a job or something. Best bet is to come up north here where mental illness is appreciated for its comic relief from the too long, too cold winters and coal plants are cherished for the extra CO2 they put out, just in case it might have something to do with a little warming. Hasn't worked in 20 years but hope springs eternal. Oh well, at least we can look forward to Earth day and burn those tires we save all year. Love to watch the escaping light.

Let's just consider the science...
Street lighting is intended to light streets.
Improve reflectors so that more of the light lights the intended target.
Where possible (underpass lighting, bus stops, etc), install LED lighting - More efficient and directional than discharge lamps, since light comes from a flat surface - and which doesn't involve mercury.
Increased lighting = increased safety.
Increased efficiency = more light where it is needed for the same cost.

Oh... and Geese were flying over the lower mainland around 3 am this morning. I heard them twice.

Bugs gather in street lights and bats and night birds find a easy meal

Forgive a simple question. What happens to the replaced toxic lightbulbs?

We do tend to brutally over-illuminate our streets at night. Combined with so many cars being outfitted with wretchedly bright LED headlights (or whatever in hell they're made of these days) and it's getting downright painful to drive at night inside city limits these days, especially if you get just that little bit of ice or water on the streets to reflect all of that light. The glare is downright dangerous.

I did grow up in the country, where seeing the Milky Way at night was a given, and the light of the full moon was enough to see for what felt like miles. Humans' eyes will adapt to lower light levels. We just don't let them any more.

Enviromentalism isa mental disorder cuased by too many diets of Nuts and nothing but nuts as well as those stupid Captian Planet Marathons dressing up as a tree on Earthday and watching AVATAR forty million times until your brain turns to the consistency of melted vanilla ice cream

Bright light is wasteful. Most of city light is aimed everywhere, not where it should be, which is down. Some European areas have motion activated streetlamps. LEDs reduce power consumption and cost. Urban people are losing their night vision. Edmonton and Leduc County have installed streetlamps from the city all the way south to the airport. There are no pedestrians, there are no sidewalks, and vehicles have headlights. Studies on crime have been done in reduced light areas and came to no conclusion.

when you live in the country your senses are sharper, city slickers don't know that
But the old lamp shade with lower wattage..?

A night without light is uh like dark

what a concept

Not to cause a blackout here, but they have replaced a lot of the lamps in Calgary, and I do enjoy the 'dimmer' nights as the streetlight shines into our house, even with curtains.