Outlaw Nighttime Use
of High-Intensity Strobe Lights on Towers
[posted
2003.11.01]
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THE PLAN: |
1) Prohibit the use of high-intensity strobe lights on communications towers and other tall structures between sunset and sunrise.. |
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2) Require tower owners to replace strobe lighting with red or white beacon lighting. |
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3) Tower owners may keep strobes for daytime use only. |
THE RATIONALE:
Growing up at Lake Herman, I became accustomed to the slow winking red lights atop the radio towers that dotted the surrounding prairie. Their calm ebb and flow suited the night, like a visual lullaby from miles away. Then, in the 1990's, high-intensity strobe lights began appearing atop nearby radio towers. One tower five miles to the southeast flashed brightly enough that I could turn my back to it and still see the flash on my bedroom wall at night. (I can only imagine how bright that light was for the folks living right beneath the tower.) On a trip through Iowa, a friend and I stopped for a romantic nighttime swim but found our view of the starry sky marred by the constant, nagging flash of a tower beyond the south shore. While driving home at night from Sioux Falls on I-29, another tower would shatter the darkness with its strobe, challenging me to keep my eyes on the dark road instead of fixating on the rhythmic white bursts that would actually affect my night vision.
So why would tower owners and builders change to these terribly distracting strobe lights? Maybe some study showed that the strobes are more easily spotted by pilots, but no one has ever crashed into any of the towers around here equipped with red beacons. I thought maybe FAA regulations had regulated a change, but according to the Chapter 24 August 2001 newsletter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers of Madison, Wisconsin, red beacons are still a legal option. Apparently, the choice comes down to money: using strobe lights day and night is cheaper than using red beacons at night and painting the tower for daytime visibility.
Light pollution isn't the biggest problem facing our state, but bright lights flashing in the middle of the night don't improve our quality of life at all. Why should the general public have to sacrifice the peace and quiet of the nighttime sky so tower owners can save a little money? Let's go back to the way things were before, with nothing but the slow, soothing red beacons to disrupt our view of the stars.
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Think it'll work? Tell a friend, tell a legislator, and make it happen! Think I'm dead wrong? Say so -- and come up with a better plan! Either way, let me know what you are thinking. Cory Allen
Heidelberger |