Let there be dark! New light pollution rules in Pierce County make good sense

Think our local skies are dark enough, especially during the dead of winter with rain clouds parked overhead? Think again.

Light pollution is so pervasive around the South Sound, it can interfere with Army helicopter crews and other units at JBLM conducting nighttime exercises. And anytime local military training is hindered, it gives rise to concerns that Pierce County’s No. 1 employer may eventually shut down or relocate.

That threat alone offers good reason why local leaders should address the proliferation of round-the-clock artificial light. But stronger controls could also bring a better quality of life to everyone in the region.

Greater energy conservation and smaller electric bills. More opportunity to enjoy nature as it was meant to be enjoyed. And less damage to the biological clocks of humans and wildlife alike.

With all these things in mind, the Pierce County Council recently took wise action to keep light pollution from getting worse. Starting Feb. 1, businesses and developers will face stricter standards.

It began as a request from the nonprofit South Sound Military & Communities Partnership to curtail disruptive light sources near JBLM. It turned into a set of regulations governing electronic signs and exterior lighting of new building construction — and it applies all over unincorporated Pierce County.

The International Dark Sky Society is happy about it. Amateur stargazers should rejoice, too. And really, we all could use some relief from the invention that Thomas Edison gave the world more than 140 years ago, lighting the way for the Industrial Revolution.

Under the new rules, all illuminated signs and outside building lights must be fully shielded, downward facing and otherwise designed to prevent “light trespass” into the sky and onto surrounding properties. Rear-lit panels, flashing lights and laser lights are prohibited.

County Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg raised the idea of adopting additional restrictions, perhaps requiring office towers and other businesses to turn off their lights at night.

“I think it’s worth a discussion heading into the new year,” Ladenburg said.

That seems like a longshot. For now, officials will have their hands full enforcing the new regulations they adopted Dec. 10 by unanimous vote.

Pierce County is entering the fight against light pollution already undertaken by several local communities, including Lakewood, Fircrest, Fife, and even JBLM itself. A year ago Tacoma joined them by completing a major streetlight replacement project; utility crews changed out 75 percent of the city’s high-pressure sodium-vapor bulbs with energy-efficient LED fixtures — and with that, Tacoma neighborhoods traded the old stark-orange glare with a more subtle moonlight glow.

Pierce County Councilman Marty Campbell noted that efforts like this are needed to combat the “extreme negative impacts on both human health and wildlife” documented by scientists. “The environment works on day and night cycles here,” he said, “and light pollution has wreaked havoc on that.”

Indeed, several studies point to excessive artificial light contributing to a range of problems, such as human sleep disorders and disrupted migration and reproductive cycles among nocturnal birds and other animals.

Clearly there’s a lot at stake here, beyond being responsive to JBLM officials and ensuring the military readiness of local troops.

There’s something else, too — a sense of context, humility and wide-eyed wonder that comes with discovering one’s place in a vast universe. It’s best grasped while standing under the canopy of an unpolluted night sky, and best captured by poets like Emily Bronte:

“O stars, and dreams, and gentle night;

O night and stars, return!

And hide me from the hostile light

That does not warm, but burn.”

Kudos to Pierce County leaders for embracing the bright idea to limit light pollution.