9 Mar 99

From: Eric J. Lakits
To: Letters to the Editor (USA Today):

As a child, I can remember watching the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Marvin the Martian is attempting to blow up the Earth so that he can have an unobstructed view of the heavens.  I remember laughing at how ridiculous that idea was and still is.  But now, I no longer laugh because the idea is all too real.  However, we do not need Marty the Martian to do the job for us.  Instead, we are ready to roll over and commit suicide.

In your recent article, “Glare from Earth blocking view of starts, planets,” you describe how governments, both local and world wide, are attempting to regulate night-time lighting at the insistence of upstart fringe environmental groups.

These groups claim that the sky at night is “a precious resource.”  For what is it a resource?  They claim that lights from shopping malls, billboards, and sports stadiums are blocking the view of all but the brightest stars.  At least these creations of Mankind serve a purpose.  What need do we have for an unobstructed look at the heavens?  Will these starts provide private property owners with the same protection as high-tech security lighting?

The International Dark-Sky Association (a group whose name alone terrorizes me) claims that $2 billion is “wasted every year by Americans on light that flows upward, rather than downward.”  If this is private money wasted on private property, then why should they care?  Meanwhile, in the public sector, how much taxpayer money is Los Angeles going to waste to change 234,000 streetlights to fight this ‘light pollution?’

Again, it should be obvious to all that the Environmentalists are Man’s enemies.  Their goal is not to preserve the environment, but to destroy technology.  I for one do not consider Mankind’s greatest achievements to be an inconvenient obstacle obstructing my view of the heavens.  Rather, I am often annoyed that some people are so distracted by the stars that they fail to notice the greatness that surrounds them. 

Eric J. Lakits