Letters, faxes, and e-mail

Losing our right

to see night sky

The people of southern Alabama are rapidly losing a right that the younger ones probably never knew they had. This is the right to look upward at night and see the stars and planets overhead.

Light pollution from badly designed streetlights and "security lighting" (especially in stores' parking lots) obscures the night sky while it only marginally deters crime.

Porch lights and all outdoor lights should have reflective hoods to send their light downward instead of allowing it to escape into the sky.

Among the worst light polluters are mercury vapor lights. They may be cheaper to buy than the ideal low-pressure sodium lights are, but mercury vapor lights steadily lose effectiveness as they age and require more current to produce less light.

EMMETT SMITH

Mobile

Letter carriers to

bowl for the MDA

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