Go Dark- Energy Saving

English 101

May 6, 2014

Collaborative Paper

Go Dark

Has anyone ever noticed that most offices and shopping markets left their light on overnight after the business hour? This causes Lighting and energy waste at night in the United States, and it also causes light pollution. Light pollution is excessive, misdirected, or obtrusive artificial light. It costs money, wastes energy and resources (Mizon 135). The International Dark-Sky Association in Tucson, Arizona estimates that one-third of all lighting in the U.S. is wasted ("Economic Issues" 1). Therefore, California should pass a law to require business and industry to turn off the light at night after business hour. Some people might think that keeping the light on overnight does not waste too much money. In the United States alone, at least $2 billion is wasted annually by shining light when it is not needed, and by using light sources that are energy inefficient (Gent 55). According to the Fox News, Paris, the city of light, has chosen to go dark on 2013. Under the new light pollution law in France, lights in shop window displays will be turned off at 1am. Interior lights in offices and other non-residential buildings will have to be switched off an hour after the last employee leaves (1). Meaning that, shops and offices throughout France will be forced to turn off the lights overnight since 2013. The light pollution law in French is expected to save 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year. This saving can provide enough energy to power 750,000 French households for a year ("France save energy"). Perhaps one of the main reasons for lighting at night regards security safety; however, most crime actually occurs during the day and night lighting by itself does not ensure safety. A recent U.S. Department of Justice report to Congress concluded, "We can have little confidence that lighting prevents crime, particularly since we do not know if offenders use lighting to their advantage.... In short, the effectiveness...