The small Massachusetts north shore community of Rockport recently rejected an offer of free LED lighting to replace older infrastructure. Residents there worried that the new, brighter lights would harm fireflies and other wildlife, which depend on dark skies for survival.
The decision by the town selectman to vote down the offer from National Grid came after an education campaign spearheaded, in part, by the Cape Ann Climate Coalition. That campaign ended in a poll where more than 90% of residents said they didn’t want to accept new lighting. Coalition members, however, are quick to say they would accept lower-intensity LED bulbs. They say animal and human health issues are increasing as lighting intensity and unnecessary lighting do.
Host Robin Young talks to Cape Ann Climate Coalition members Lisa Smith and Clay Kern, and Harvard University research fellow Avalon Owens, who studies the impact of light pollution on fireflies at the Owens Lab at Harvard University’s Rowland Institute.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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