The good people in Powys are up in arms because their streetlights - most of them anyway - are being turned off. They are grimly anticipating a crimewave and a succession of nasty accidents. The county council is dressing this up as a "save the planet" ploy by claiming that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions . Bollocks; they are out to save money. Let's stop being so coy.
Actually, I'm fully on the side of the Council here. We don't need and have never needed streetlights. At a rough guess, 99.99999999999% of the light generated by streetlights is used by absolutely nobody, ever. We pay a fortune to illuminate areas that need no illumination. We will not have a darkness-fuelled crime wave. We will not have gangs of hoodied youths clustering on unlit corners dimly lit by the orange tips of their shoplifted fags.
Perhaps, when the lights are off, the good people of Powys might look upwards to the black - not orange - night sky and wonder at the beauty and splendour of the Universe we all share.
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Excellent idea. When we lived out in the country it was a surprise to look out of the window and see a black sky rather than an orange one, and we got so much more sleep as a result. And mostly, it meant Ben could stargaze. What sort of telescope would you recommend I bought for him?
Great to have caught up on the blog after a short absence! Brilliant as always.
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