Public Trust Doctrine
The Public Trust Doctrine holds that natural resources are held in trust by the government for the benefit of current and future generations. Public resources such as air, water, wildlife and darkness may be used for the benefit of all, but these resources may not be damaged or degraded.
Government officials are the Trustees. They are thus legally obligated to fulfill their duties as protectors of these public resources.
The laws of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian held that the sea, the shores of the sea, the air and running water was common to everyone.[1] Later, the Magna Carta further strengthened public rights. These rights were further strengthened by later laws in England and subsequently became part of the common law of the United States.
The Supreme Court first accepted the public trust doctrine in Martin v. Waddell’s Lessee in 1842, confirming it several decades later in Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387 (1892).
This doctrine’s most frequent application in the USA is to bodies of water and wildlife protection. However, as one court put it, “the public trust, by its very nature, does not remain fixed for all time, but must conform to changing needs and circumstances.”[2]
Therefore, resources that might not have been a previous concern will still fall under the Public Trust Doctrine.
Hawaii is one of several states that have expressly recognized the Public Trust Doctrine. The Hawaii constitution states: “All public natural resources are held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people.”
We have now realized that darkness is a resource that is just as fundamental to biological systems (humans, plants, wildlife) as air and water. Public Trustees have a legal responsibility to protect darkness just like any other resource.
Soft Lights is reminding government decision makers of their duty, as Trustees of natural resources, that protection of darkness is their legal responsibility. Any artificial light that is added into the nighttime environment pollutes the darkness and therefore must be reduced to the absolute minimum.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_trust_doctrine
[2] https://law.uoregon.edu/sites/law1.uoregon.edu/files/mary-wood_0/mary-wood/PTD_primer_7-27-15_EK_revision.pdf
Chromaticity Diagram
A chromaticity diagram shows all the colors that are visible to the typical human eye.
The CIE Chromaticity diagram was adopted by the International Commission on Illumination. By using an (x,y) coordinate system, a color can be specified by one x and one y value. Instead of saying “green”, we can say (0.2, 0.6) which gives us an exact wavelength on the visible light spectrum.
However, human eyes use three different types of rod cells to detect color. The three types of cells are most sensitive to red, green and blue wavelengths.
Humans do not have, for example, an orange cone cell. Therefore, when we see what we believe to be the color orange, we really are relying on a combination of red, green and blue sensors and then interpreting those signals as orange.
If we were to map all the visible colors, we would use a 3-D map with an x, y, and z value (red, green, blue). However, such a graph is hard to draw on paper. Therefore, mathematicians used an algorithm to map the 3-D space into 2-D to create the chromaticity diagram.
The outer edge of this 2-D shape are the visually perceivable wavelengths for humans.
The reason for the unusual shape of the diagram is because it takes into account human perception of saturation of colors. In the CIE chromaticity diagram, the midpoint between pure and red and pure green is pure yellow. The diagram is also mathematically shifted to the right so that all values are positive numbers.
White is located at 1/3 intensity of red, green and blue. On the CIE chromaticity diagram, white is located at (0.33, 0.33).
Color temperature can also be polotted onto the chromaticity diagram. A 6000 Kelvin light source appears white, but tends towards blue. A 2500 Kelvin light source has a yellowish hue. Note that two different light sources can have the same color temperature, but due to different spectral content, they would be plotted on the chromaticity diagram in two different locations. The color temperature plot uses a set of standardized values.
Light Emitting Diodes emit mostly blue wavelength light. To achieve white, a yellow phosphor is added. As you can see on the chromaticity diagram, if you draw a straight line between blue and yellow, the color at the midpoint is white.
However, do not be fooled into thinking that your eye is receiving a full spectrum of colors or a white wavelength. Your brain interprets blue + yellow = white, but the cone cells of your eye are receiving mostly high energy blue wavelength light that is causing cell death and damaging your eyes.
September Advocacy
September 1: Kenosha, Wisconsin – We wrote to the Kenosha city council about the LED light weapons from the police and the super bright white lights from businesses and parking lots, informing the council that this weaponized light is harming the community.
September 2: Madison Heights, Michigan – News Story – The city will soon select and install LED streetlights, so we wrote and provided guidance to the council and staff.
September 3: Manhattan, New York – News Story – A murder happened under bright white, high glare lights. We wrote to the Illuminating Engineering Society and Manhattan council to ask them to explain the purpose of these lights.
September 3, 2020: Chicago, Illinois – News Story – Millions of birds are migrating and need darkness to be successful. While there are volunteer efforts to turn off the lights, we believe that volunteer efforts will never work. We wrote to the council to remind them of their duty as Trustees of the darkness resource under the Public Trust Doctrine.
September 3, 2020: Brooklyn, New York – News Story – The New York police are planning on blasting people with bright white lights from a light tower. We wrote to the Brooklyn Council expressing our disagreement with assaulting citizens with LED light weapons.
September 3, 2020: Fort Worth Texas – News Story – The migrating birds will also be coming through Texas. We wrote to the Fort Worth city council asking them to fulfill their duties as Trustees of the darkness resource to keep the lights off to protect both humans and birds.
September 4, 2020: Los Angeles, California – News Story – The city of Los Angeles has selected a new street light design from a competition. We wrote to remind the city to use 1700K color temperature, shielded, diffused light that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
September 4, 2020: New York City – News Story – Here is another story of protestors marching underneath dangerous high-glare LED lights. We wrote to the New York city council to recommend removing these lights that have high blue content because they seem to be agitating people, which is in-line with what the science tells us.
September 5, 2020: Swindon, England – News Story – The town installed high color temperature LED lights that are too bright. We wrote to the council, advising them to replace the lights with low color temperature lights and that the council must protect darkness.
September 5, 2020: Northumberland, England – News Story – There was a theft at the Bamburgh Castle, so now the operators want to install bright lights for “protection”. We wrote the council to remind them that the research shows that bright white lights do not reduce crime and that protecting darkness is a more important need.
September 6, 2020: Weber State, Utah – The sustainability program at the university is offering to do a trade-in of CFL lightbulbs for LED. There was no mention of color temperature, so we wrote to the university asking them to ensure 2700K or less for the safety of students.
September 9, 2020: Merrymeeting Bay, Maine – Press Release – The Friends of Merrymeeting Bay are suing Central Maine Power for installing high intensity Xenon strobe lights on their electrical towers and for installing a high energy radar system that blasts electro-magnetic radiation into the environment. We are helping on this case by writing letters.
September 10, 2020: Hilton Head, South Carolina – News Story – The city of Hilton Head is proposing a lighting ordinance to protect turtles. We wrote in support.
September 12, 2020: Wilkinson County, Georgia – News Story – A group of families purchased land to build a town that is safe for African Americans. We wrote and urged them to protect darkness in their new town.
September 13, 2020: Swindon, Wiltshire, England – News Story – Radio host Jeremy Vine did another show on LED street lights in Swindon. We wrote to the Swindon council reminding them to protect darkness.
September 14, 2020: Park City, Utah – News Story – Park City is considering implementing dark sky regulations. We wrote in support.
September 14, 2020: Califon, New Jersey – Califon is considering converting to LED streetlights. We wrote to the Califon Environmental Commission to warn them against choosing high color temperature LED lights.
September 15, 2020: Police Executive Research Forum – The director of PERF, Chuck Wexler, was interviewed on CNN. We wrote to Mr. Wexler to alert him to the issue of the high intensity LED strobe lights that all the police cars now have. It is our belief that these high intensity strobe light weapons must not b used against the citizens and that they should be eliminated.
September 17, 2020: San Francisco Airport – News Story – SFO has made changes to reduce noise pollution. We wrote to ask them to also reduce light pollution and use 2700K or less for color temperature.
September 17, 2020: Brooklyn, New York – News Story – A fire truck and ambulance crashed and killed one person. We wrote to the city council to point out that high glare streetlights, high glare headlights, and high intensity strobing lights make for dangerous conditions.
September 18, 2020: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin – News Story – A vehicle crash occurred in an intersection which was captured on video. We noticed the mishmash of lighting colors and the high glare lights at the gas stations. We wrote to the city council to alert them that brighter does not equal safer and that the council must act to protect darkness.
September 18, 2020: Potsdam, New York – News Story – Potsdam is beginning an LED streetlight conversion project. We wrote the council to remind them to use low color temperature lights and to protect darkness.
September 18, 2020: Roseville, California – News Story – The Roseville police recommended installing security lighting to fight crime. We wrote to the Roseville Police Department to remind them that a high glare floodlight shining directly into police officer’s eyes will reduce their ability to catch any criminals.
September 19, 2020: Miami, Florida – News Story – A proposed soccer stadium would allow huge LED billboards, causing massive light pollution. We wrote to the board of supervisors to remind them of their legal obligation to protect darkness.
September 22, 2020: Signify Lighting – Signify is a large lighting company. They falsely claim that 4000K LED cause no harm. We wrote and asked for evidence to support their claim, but they refused to provide proof.
September 22, 2020: Fendalton, Christchurch, New Zealand – News Story – The city council installed horrific, high color temperature LED lights that shine directly into this person’s bedroom window. We wrote to the council to let them know that is unacceptable.
September 23, 2020: Sacramento, California – News Story – The city of Sacramento is suing the owners of a shopping mall for allowing their mall to become a haven for crime. The city is calling for better lighting, so we wrote to remind the council that bright white lights do not equal reduced crime and may make the situation worse.
September 25, 2020: Gilroy, California – We received notice that the city of Gilroy chose not to update their Environmental Impact Report to address light pollution as per our request. We reached out to the city and will attempt to get regulations written at a later point.
September 26, 2020: Woonsocket, Rhode Island – News Story – The city is about to convert streetlights to LED. We wrote to remind them to use low color temperatures and to protect darkness.
September 27, 2020: Aiken, South Carolina – News Story – A car wash is applying for a permit and residents are concerned about various forms of pollution. We wrote to the city council to have them require well-shielded, low color temperature lights at the car wash.
September 28, 2020: Westchester, Florida – News Story – Another car crash caught on video showing super bright, high glare lights at the scene. We wrote to the city council to ask them to protect darkness.