In the wake of our recent legislative successes, on July 6th the Boston Globe weighed in with a lead editorial on its opinion page that started out describing the beauty of fireflies on a summer evening and quickly pivoted to two timely dark-sky issues.

The first was the recent dark-sky “win” in Rockport, which will soon convert its streetlights to LEDs. The town has been evaluating sample lights supplied National Grid. But when asked about their color-temperature preference (the choices: 3000K or 4000K), residents overwhelmingly picked “neither.” Instead, they want Rockport’s Select Board and DPW to explore streetlights with color temperatures as low as 2200K — an option that’s starting to get traction across the state. And on June 16th, the Select Board voted 4-0 to reject National Grid’s proposal.
The second was lengthy commentary in favor of the “dark-sky bill” currently making its way through the Legislature. The editorial notes the full Senate’s unanimous (39-0) approval of the bill on July 1st, and that the House included the bill’s requirements in the massive environmental-bond bill its members approved just two weeks earlier.
“Curbing light pollution shouldn’t be a town-by-town matter,” the editorial states. “After all, fireflies have a devil of a time reading road signs. But they do know a hostile light-filled sky when they see it.” The Globe editorial board then concludes, “With the end of the session drawing close, lawmakers should ensure that legislation both chambers support becomes law.”
Click here to read the entire 800-word editorial.
Ronna Wallace, who works the halls of Beacon Hill to support legislation for the Massachusetts Medical Society, reminds us that this is great opportunity to write a letter to the editor thanking the Globe for its support and urging the legislature to act favorably on the bill before the end of session.
Here’s how: First, keep it short — 250 words or less. Then send it to shared.letter@globe.com. You might get a response back from matthew.bernstein@globe.com on behalf of Shared Letter.