How Seeing the Stars Will Save You Money and possible save your life and certainly make your life more enjoyable

• This years House Bill 906 "Marilyn J. Praisner Safe and Earth–Friendly Roadway Act" introduced and read first time: February 11, 2011 and assigned to: Environmental Matters committee. Different and improved from last years bill.  The bill is schedule for a hearing in the Environmental Matters Committee on the afternoon of March 8, 2011.
• Bad Mercury Vapor Light (not very energy efficient) with Glaring Drop Lens (bad for people with cataracts driving at night) on the street that I live in on, burning during the day time (wasting more energy).  Not full cut off, it shines in peoples bedrooms, light trust-pass, at night increasing the risk of Breast Cancer, by disrupting circadian rhythm.. Picture taken around 8AM of March 8, 2011.
  

• Did not get to testify on the excellent senate bill, SB464, sponsored by Senator Jenny Forehand, whose father was a lighting engineer.  I also learned that Al Carr has a B.S. in electrical engineering.  I attended and listened on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, but my name evidently did not go on the list to testify in time.  Please see down below on the "PEER reviewed SCIENCE!" this is just a small sample of the literature out there, now.  Light Pollution that trespasses into bedrooms is a clear and present danger.  How many more Maryland women need to die needlessly of breast cancer?  Of course, there are other causes of breast cancer, but this is one of the major causes currently and it rises well above the noise statistically, please see the Israeli study below.  We would get the same results in Maryland if we did the study.  The laws of nature are translational invariant, this leads to momentum  conservation among other things.  It turns out that I am a real conservative not a false conservative.  I am an astrophysicist, and therefore know and believe in all of the true conservation laws.  This is how come the AMA, American Medical Association, is against "Light Pollution."  Men probably do not benefit by having their circadian rhythms disrupted either, but it rarely gives us breast cancer, since we do not have the equipment.   Maybe having your circadian rhythms disrupted as a man just makes you mean and nasty, but we men are already so mean and nasty that no one would ever notice.  Besides how do you measure mean and nasty?  (This is a crude attempt at humor on a very serious problem.) 
  
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• House Bill 169, "Marilyn J. Praisner Safe and Earth-Friendly Roadway Act" 2010 even better proposal than last year with hopefully a better chance of passing.  The only serious opposition seems to be from PEPCO which has a lot of high pressure sodium light that are not complaint with this bill, in a warehouse that they have foolishly purchased at deep discount, because smart utility companies are getting rid of these poor lights.  PEPCO has not kept up with modern lighting technology despite government warning in the town of Takoma Park and Kensington in Montgomery County and and else where over the last several years.  They send lawyers and lobbyist to testify instead of engineers who actually know something.  Obviously these last two sentences are my personal opinion, base on listen to PEPCO representative at the February 9, 2010 testimony in front of the Environmental Matters committee of the Maryland house of delegates.  If PEPCO wishes to enter the modern world they need to have their competent engineers take a look at Out Door LED Street Lighting!  Leave the lobbyist at home!  As for the novel legal theory of the new law allowing PEPCO property to be seized with out compensation the conservative in the house side saw through this argument immediately.  Lets don't lose this bill over will and shall, lawyering that most citizens have no patience with. 
  
• I also testify for this great bill on February 9, 2010 between snow storms.  Milt Roney, Associate Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for IDA, International Dark Sky, and of course the bills sponsor Alfred Carr (I would vote for him if I lived in his district, but I did vote for Tom Hucker who is one of the bills sponsors and my house delegate), and Marilyn Praisner's daughter and two of her daughters all testified in favor.  Our next opportunity to testify will be Wednesday, February 24, 2010 in Annapolis in front of the Senate Finance committee of the Maryland senate, Senate Office building room 3 at 1PM.  It would be nice if many astronomers or regular citizens, who are concerned about the environment or their own health, would show up at this meeting.  The world is controlled by those who show up.  
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• Maryland General Assembly Roadway Lighting Bill HB816  (very good legislation). The honorable Alfred Carr email who introduced this house bill. State Senator Jenny Forehand has introduced a companion bill in the Maryland Senate: SB891 (some more information on this bill, too) 2009. 
• Outdoor Lighting Standards Established Bill No. 4-07.pdf, not yet passed as far as I can see.
  Zoning Text Amendment in Montgomery County 07-01.pdf, not yet passed as far as I can see.
  "Testimony on Bill No. 4-07, Outdoor Lighting Standards-Established, and Zoning Text Amendment No. 07-01, Concerning: Outdoor Lighting Standards March 20, 2007 1:30PM by Dr. Harold Williams"  a Microsoft  Word doc file.  Marilyn Praisner was still alive with us when this good bill was proposed by her.  This is probably the best lighting ordinance at the county level that I have seen.  It was opposed in somewhat secret testimony by Park and Planning.   I have my spies.   It could be rewritten to remove Park and Planing objection which was the 7 year condition that all lights must be up to code by then.  Park and Planning did not want to replace their resent poor lighting decisions on Fenton Street of "Washington Globes."   So we could grandfather in all existing lighting and just bring it up to code when they failed.  That is what HB169 does.   After all preventing women from getting breast cancer is clearly not a Park and Planning goal (Sorry if this last sentence is a little SARKY, but this is what seems to me to be true, though I am sure Park and Planning is not doing this consciously as no one would do this consciously. Unintended consequences to save them some budgeted funds!  Sort of like the only liberal democracy that doesn't have universal health care for it citizens, hay that you and me right now, ouch! But president Obama is fixing that, it will just take a few years!)  Maybe we are not a liberal democracy, but we do not seem to be truly conservative either, since we are spending more than we earn in taxes at the federal level.  How much longer do you think we can continue to do this? 
  
• Maryland Outdoor Lighting Task Force Report from 2001: Maryland Outdoor Lighting Task force report.

Montgomery College's Planetarium home page

Web page by Dr. Harold Alden Williams.
Last changed 6:47PM March 26, 2011.