[SAS] Re: Avista LED 'upgrade' is a downgrade for night skies.

  • From: Coylene and Dale Isley <coyanddale@xxxxxxx>
  • To: Spokane Astronomical Society <sas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 11:34:06 -0700

I agree, ignorance is battled through education. However, instead of fighting
the battle thorugh public opinion in the newspapers and trying to get public
involvement through outreaches and pamphlets, would it be possible to have a
meeting, maybe several of them, with the key players and planners at Avista?
I'm thinking that taking the path of treating them as intelligent players who
are trying to do the right thing (more efficient lighting) and showing them
that "more efficient" has both good and bad options. There are several studies
that could be prepared in a presentation format (and perhaps leave them all
with folders of the data). I would think that if they could understand the
spectrum(s) that are harmful I would imagine they would be willing to slightly
alter their current course of action as long as it wasn't drastically changing
the financial cost.
I know there are lower "warm" spectrum LED's that wouldn't cause as great of a
concern and the brightness can be handled with slightly lower wattage, which
would both save more energy and cost less.
The only concern I have is that I am familiar with residential offerings, but
the city power to the street lamps is a common commercial voltage of 277/480V
3P. I have no idea what would be available as a direct replacement for what
they are using, but I would also suppose that if they are willing to purchase
that many, they could get just about anything they want. Especially if they are
going to have Spokane through Avista be the shining prototype of what city
lighting should be.
Thoughts?-- Dale Isley

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 11:43:18 -0600
From: jenny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: sas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [SAS] Re: Avista LED 'upgrade' is a downgrade for night skies.

In my mind, Avista isn't the enemy here, but ignorance is. The only way
to fight ignorance is through education. That is where you shine,
Debbie. If all you have is the moon (or Jupiter tamed to a gym wall :)
), then it is the moon you show and get them excited about.

I have already cleared my work schedule for tomorrow so I can dedicate
my keyboard to the cause as best as I am able. I'm also planning to have
a scope out at least twice a week, even if all we are looking at is the
moon through high clouds. My personal plan, especially right now while
the moon is highly visible, is to target areas with high foot traffic.

I think I will also work with Nick to get a sidewalk astronomy page
added to the website, where members can somehow log where they are doing
public viewings so the public can easily find an eyepiece near them.

We can do this!



On 2015-10-26 11:30, cave8@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I am not very good at expressing my feelings for this. I do know as an
Outreach Coordinator there will be a problem
when it comes to observing at Science Fairs, where we can see the
planets and constellations double stars and star clusters and even
Andromeda Galaxy on clear nights from a school playground. But if they
put that bright of LED lights in a neighbor hood that the school is in
the most they will see is the Moon at best. There is a right way to do
it and Avista is not picking the right path.

This will also pose a problem for our Telescope in the Library
Program.

Debbe Cotten

Outreach, Event Coordinator &
Secretary of
The Spokane Astronomical Society
cave8@xxxxxxxxxxx
509-991-2518

-------------------------

FROM: "jenny" <jenny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
TO: sas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
SENT: Monday, October 26, 2015 10:10:14 AM
SUBJECT: [SAS] Re: Avista LED 'upgrade' is a downgrade for night
skies.

Tomorrow. I meant if someone else wants to draft a press release, or
can
do it more quickly than I, to please do so. Apologies for being
unclear.

On 2015-10-26 11:06, Cindy Fenick wrote:
Hi Jenny; are you talking about NEXT Tuesday or tomorrow? What do
you need someone to "step in" for?

-----Original Message-----
From: sas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of jenny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, 26 October, 2015 10:00 AM
To: sas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [SAS] Re: Avista LED 'upgrade' is a downgrade for night
skies.
Importance: High

Good call, Cindy! If no one is opposed, I can draft a press release
to
send to the Spokesman and the Inlander. I can also put out
information
via the Nextdoor neighborhood network. I won't be able to schedule
time in for either until Tuesday, so anyone else with the ability is
welcome to step in and do it instead!

It's getting chilly and winter gloom is creeping in, but I really
think this is a time for amateur astronomers to become visible, i.e.
a
series of sidewalk events. The quickest way to get the public on
your
side is to show the benefit to them. Even better if we have a small
flier on the issue to hand out at these events. The key is
education,
and this is one of the best ways I can think of to do this.

-Jenny

On 2015-10-26 10:49, Cindy Fenick wrote:
Hi John; I just sent an email to David Ingram, Director of NW
Chapter
of Dark Skies Association, to find out about the status of the
model
ordinance written by DSA for Washington that supposed to reduce
light
glare and what he recommends as a course of action to stop this
Avista
nightglare (read, nightmare!) As a club, what do suggest we do? Are
there other astronomy associations, such as the SFCC Planetarium
faculty, or Mobius, or any group with clout that can help alter
this
course of destruction? I’ll do what I can to help the cause!!

Cindy Fenick

FROM: sas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] ON
BEHALF OF John Riegel
SENT: Sunday, 25 October, 2015 11:57 PM
TO: sas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
SUBJECT: [SAS] Re: Avista LED 'upgrade' is a downgrade for night
skies.

ACTION REQUESTED - PLEASE DO THIS

There has been a buzz in the local press, and the people who want
to
light up the night have been far more vocal than those on this list
which SUCKS. Last week I talked to a KPBX reporter and two people
at
Avista. According to Avista, the public voice is all for MORE
BRIGHT
LIGHTS. Yet everyone has heard of this topic see Doug Clark's post
in
the Sunday paper

(http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/25/doug-clark-the-livin-is-
easy-under-avistas-new-str/
[1]).

But this isn't a joke, it is serious with long-term impact. Where
the
new lights could be worse, they still are not the smart upgrade our
community deserves. We have an opportunity for positive change.

Please contact Avista and your local government wherever you may
live
and . First read up on the topic for 15 to 30 minutes, Nick's links
are all you need to know. My summary is:

* Avista must do better, install lower power, narrow-band lights to
save money, with no impact on crime, improve health, and protect
the
night.
* Our municipalities can improve quality of life with zoning which
recognizes light as potential pollution which must be managed.

Light pollution is a public topic in the spot light. Please act on
this opportunity to push for zoning to protect the night; don't let
the simple costs and false crime fear win this. If we don't raise
our
voices Avista will continue to slap up thousands of bright, full
spectrum LEDs.

Want to organize or plan, collaborate or complain? Please call me.

John

509-869-3735

On Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 11:17 PM, Nick Monkman <nmonkman@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

(also on the website)

If you hadn't heard yet, our local utility company, Avista, is in
the
process of installing hundreds of blue-white LED streetlights in
the
Spokane area. These lights are, for the most part, far brighter
than
they need to be. To make matters worse, the lights are on the blue
side of the spectrum which is terrible for dark-adaptation. What
can
we do?

* Research! Here's a couple of recent articles and news stories
about
the issue:

·

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/25/doug-clark-the-livin-is-e
asy-under-avistas-new-str/
[1]

·

http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/new-led-street-lights-get-mixed-
reviews/35976920
[2]

·

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/20/new-led-streetlights-are-
green-but-have-some-spoka/
[3]

* Let the your city council rep know what you think.

· https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/members/ [4]

· Phone:509.625.6255 [5]

* Let Avista know what you think

·

https://www.avistautilities.com/contact/_layouts/avista/contactus.aspx
[6]

If enough of us voice our opinion (respectfully!) there's no doubt
in
my mind we can make a difference here.



Links:
------
[1]

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/25/doug-clark-the-livin-is-e
asy-under-avistas-new-str/
[2]

http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/new-led-street-lights-get-mixed-
reviews/35976920
[3]

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/20/new-led-streetlights-are-
green-but-have-some-spoka/ [4]
https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/members/
[5] tel:509.625.6255
[6]

https://www.avistautilities.com/contact/_layouts/avista/contactus.aspx

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