The Idaho Falls Astronomical Society is pushing a petition to convince the city of Idaho Falls to adopt a local Dark Sky ordinance, with the aim of reducing light pollution in the area.
While I enjoy looking at the stars and other night phenomena myself, I'm not quite sure I can support this.
First of all - and maybe they look at this as a first step - it's not just Idaho Falls, but also Ammon, Iona, and Bonneville County they should be addressing, as there's plenty of light pollution to go around.
Addressing the issue on a county level makes more logistical sense, but I get the feeling they're either looking for the city to test the waters for a dark sky ordinance, or just aren't thinking big enough.
Also: This winter we visited Arizona, including Scottsdale, which has a dark sky ordinance. If it's truly being enforced there, I've got to say as a tourist I wasn't impressed.
The city is dark, natch. Meaning at night it's hard to see street signs, especially off the beaten path. We had to rely heavily on GPS navigation without the aid of many visual cues to get around. Combine this with what appears to be Scottsdale drivers' relaxed attitudes toward red traffic lights, the dark sky situation makes it interesting for visitors.
I also don't recall the night sky being any more visible there, though to be honest I was paying a lot more attention to the road since I couldn't see anything.
My experience is anecdotal, of course.
So I'll watch the local effort with interest, if not with much hope.
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