SELENE News

2009 LP bill archived to this site

2009-12-12T23:33:00-05:00

As we do every year, we have archived last year's incarnation of the Healthy, Safe, and Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Act from the NYS Assembly site. You can access our archive of prior bill versions on our old bills page.

Night Lights: Too Much of a Good Thing?

2009-12-07T14:10:51-05:00

The December 2009 issue of the NY State Conservationist magazine (a publication of the DEC), has an excellent article titled "Night Lights - Too Much of a Good Thing? Environmental consequences of night lighting" by Daniel J. Rozell.

Click the read more link for links to this article in Web and PDF versions.

Assembly vote tally

2009-08-30T16:58:12-04:00

A belated update on the Assembly vote on this year's LP bill. The vote was 104 to 39 in favor of the bill. The power struggle in the State Senate has so far prevented any action on the bill in that house. There is some remaining hope that the Senate will take up the bill in any Fall session that might be added to the schedule.

LP bill passes in Assembly

2009-06-19T13:24:36-04:00

We're delighted to report that the NYS Assembly has just passed A7281, the Healthy, Safe, and Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Act! We don't have any tally of the vote just yet.

As you doubtless know, the Senate essentially ceased functioning on June 8th. At that time the Senate version of the bill, S2714, was scheduled to be considered by the Environmental Conservation Committee on June 16th. That meeting, alas, never took place, and it is unclear whether there will be any more meetings of the Committee this year.

Of course it never hurts to remind your Senator of your support for this legislation. When the dust settles, we will post information about the appropriate contacts with the Senate leadership...whoever that may turn out to be!

A5769 passes the Assembly

2009-05-15T22:38:06-04:00

A5769 has passed the Assembly. This bill will amend the Public Health law to provide the authority for the department of health to engage in or support research on the health effects of artificial night light. It has been delivered to the Senate and assigned to the Health Committee.

SELENE on SlideShare.net

2009-05-05T13:40:34-04:00

Web 2.0 technologies offer a great way to share and interact. For example, 280slides.com provides a way to create PowerPoint-like presentations online, for free. Slideshare.net provides a way to share those presentations.

We've published one of our PowerPoint presentations about light pollution using these tools. Check it out at:

SELENE - Light Pollution

We encourage you to use these tools to spread the word about the ill effects of poorly designed and implemented outdoor lighting.

2009 is the Year of Astronomy in the State of New York

2009-04-01T19:02:46-04:00

Resolution K00360, introduced by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, encourages Governor David A. Paterson to proclaim 2009 the Year of Astronomy in the State of New York in conjunction with the International Year of Astronomy.

More information is at:
International Year of Astronomy (US site)

April 2-5 proclaimed 100 Hours of Astronomy in the State of New York

2009-04-01T19:03:05-04:00

Resolution K00337, introduced by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, encourages Governor David A. Paterson to proclaim April 2-5, 2009, as 100 Hours of Astronomy in the State of New York.

"100 Hours of Astronomy is a venture of breathtaking scope that seeks to involve people from all walks of life around the globe and conveys a multitude of messages, from the personal benefit of astronomical knowledge to the pressing issue of curbing light pollution". The resolution encourages "citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day and nighttime sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery."

More information is at:
100 Hours of Astronomy
International Year of Astronomy (US site)

Bill A07281/S02714 has been introduced for the 2009 legislative session

2009-04-01T13:53:12-04:00

The Healthy, Safe, and Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Act (Bill A07281/S02714) has been introduced for the 2009 legislative session. As with past versions, our goal is to show that there is strong support for this bill. For that, we need lots of letters and phone calls.

Please write your Assemblyperson and Senator to urge him or her to get A07281/S02714 to the floor for a vote and then to vote "yes" on the bill.

More information is available on our LP Legislation page.

IYA Photos of Dark Skies Importance

2009-04-01T13:40:44-04:00

As you probably know, this is the International Year of Astronomy. As part of IYA, a group called the World At Night has set up galleries of photos from around the world. Check out their gallery of Dark Skies Importance. For you panoramic image fans, be sure to check out this photo (requires QuickTime) which is part of the TWAN gallery.