[AZ-Observing] Re: Fw: Meeting Notification: MAG Dark Sky Stakeholders Group, April 19, 2011

  • From: stanlep@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:50:48 -0700 (MST)

Thanks for the information, Dan. I suppose I am an atypical driver, but I
ignore these electronic billboards because many times when I look at one
and it seems something might interest me it switches to another add. Very
annoying. They must work, though, if they go to the expense of putting
them up.
Stan

> Stan,
>
> I attended several of those meetings as an invited stakeholder for the
> amateur astronomy community. The advertising industry is a strong lobby
> with lots of funds. They even the constitutional issue of "free speech"
> in their defense. At one MAG meeting, a representative countered the
> need for a billboard lighting curfew by claiming "as long as traffic is
> going by, the business that paid for that billboard would miss out on
> potential customers if the billboard wasn't lit up, thus reducing the
> value of their advertising investment." We had professional astronomers
> arguing against these guys, but they just don't seem to get the whole
> concept of light pollution. Very frustrating for the astronomy community
> present.
>
> FYI, the National Highway Safety Board was poised to outlaw these
> electronic billboards, officially known as CVEMS (continuously variable
> electronic message signs) or EMDs (electronic message displays). But in
> the last few months of the W. Bush administration, somebody in the White
> House just killed that study. Bummer. Look where we are now.
>


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