I was surprised that your articles on “Cities and Birds” (BirdScope, Summer 2008), were illustrated by a map of light pollution in the U.S., but included so little information on the deleterious effects of light pollution on birdlife, including impacts on migrating birds and insect populations, which are well documented. I would encourage you to publicize this growing body of work (and any contributions to such studies from scientists affiliated with the Lab), and to promote control of light pollution by making information available to concerned birders on dark-sky-friendly lighting principles that they can employ in their homes and businesses.

Encouraging efficient outdoor lighting has an indirect benefit for birds and other wildlife as well: by using electricity more efficiently, dark-sky-friendly lighting reduces output of greenhouse gas emissions. Every light that you can see from an airplane, sparkling on the ground below, is light and energy going to waste. The light pollution illustrated on your cover represents a hugely unnecessary loss of electricity—and thus, an easily avoidable source of greenhouse gas emissions. Lower wattage light directed down where it is needed is a far more efficient use of electricity, and most of the electricity generated at night comes from baseloaded, coal-fired power plants, currently the heaviest emitters of carbon dioxide.

At a time when environmentally conscious businesses and consumers worldwide are seeking ways to cut their carbon footprints—and costs—by using electricity more efficiently, cutting light pollution is an easy call, and no company or household should consider itself “green” if it has not switched to dark-sky-friendly lighting.

Sincerely,
Frank Shaw

Send your submissions, questions, and ideas for Birdscope to Laura Erickson, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 or email birdscope@cornell.edu