March 27, 2008
Environment Department
Dim Bulb or Bright Idea?
Here's an interesting local law:
The same week millions of people across the world are encouraged to turn off non-essential lights for 60 minutes during the second annual Earth Hour, the Village of Homer Glen is being honored for adopting one of the most comprehensive lighting ordinances in the state.
...
The ordinance limits how much light a business can generate based on lumens, a measurement of emitted light. It also mandates that lighting fixtures must have shields or other means of directing light downward. Laser lights, flashing lights, searchlights and other intrusive lighting are prohibited.
My libertarian instinct is to rebel against this. Grocery stores, factories, warehouses, parking structures, bars, car dealerships---all these places have distinct lighting requirements, and I can't imagine that the people who crafted this ordinance are smart enough to get them all right. No one's that smart.
Also, part of the justification for this ordinance is to save energy---as if people need government prodding with these prices.
On the other hand, the ordinance's backers also justify it as reducing light scattered into the sky, making it easier for people to see the stars. At least that's a genuine externality: If my use of light on my property impairs the stargazing abilities of other people on the their propery, then I'm imposing a cost on them that I'm not paying for.
More generally, if I shine a light into your property that impairs your enjoyment of it, isn't that legitimately something that could be regulated? Air pollution, noise pollution...light pollution?
Anyone else know what to make of this?
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