Category: Government

Dodgeville Streetlights

Has anyone else noticed how Alliant Energy is gradually replacing our orangish-white-light streetlights with bluish-white-light ones? The orangish-white-light streetlights are high-pressure sodium (HPS) with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 1900K, whereas the bluish-white-light streetlights that are replacing them are LED with a CCT of 4000K, and, most notably, they are two and a half times as bright.

Even though I have written to both Alliant Energy and the City of Dodgeville, nothing has changed.

My questions, which are still unanswered:

What is the justification for increasing the streetlighting illumination level by two and a half times over what it has been for decades?

Why are we going from 1900K to 4000K (cold white), when 2700K or 3000K (warm white) is readily available and being used in many communities in the U.S. and Canada?

This same transformation is happening in Mineral Point, and probably many other communities in SW Wisconsin as well.

Is anyone else noticing how this is profoundly changing the rural character of our nighttime environment? Is anyone else concerned about this? The increase in glare and light trespass onto neighboring properties from these new LED lights is quite noticeable to me, even though they are nominally full-cutoff. Why? They are too bright, and too blue.

If anyone locally is reading Cosmic Reflections (and sometimes I wonder if anyone is…), and if you have noticed and are alarmed by these streetlighting changes, please contact me on blog or off blog (oesper at mac.com) and let’s meet and discuss a plan of action. Something needs to be done before it is too late and we are stuck with this very negative change to our nighttime environment.

A Shroud of Satellites

The first five Iridium satellites were launched on May 5, 1997, and by 2002 there were 66 operational satellites, providing consistent global satellite phone coverage. These satellites have the interesting property that their antenna panels sometimes reflect sunlight down to the Earth’s surface, causing what came to be known as “Iridium flares”, delighting terrestrial observers—myself included. During an Iridium flare event, the satellite suddenly appears and gradually brightens and then dims to invisibility as it moves slowly across a section of sky over several seconds. Many of these events reach negative magnitude, with some getting as bright as magnitude -9.5.

The next generation of Iridium satellites began launching in 2017, but these satellites are constructed in such a way that they do not produce flares. Gradually, the original Iridium satellites are de-orbiting (or being de-orbited), so eventually there will be no more Iridium flares.

The Iridium flares haven’t been much of a nuisance to astronomers because the number of events per night for a given observer have been in the single digits.

But now we’re facing too much of a good thing. The first volley of 60 Starlink satellites was launched on May 24, with 12,000 expected to be in orbit by 2028. These satellites will provide broadband internet service to the entire planet. Though the Starlink satellites aren’t expected to produce spectacular flares like the first generation of the Iridium satellites, they do reflect sunlight as any satellite does, and the sheer number of them in relatively low Earth orbit is sure to cause a lot of headaches for astronomers and stargazers throughout the world.

I estimate that about 468 of the 12,000 satellites will be above your horizon at any given moment, but how many of them will be visible will depend on their altitude (both in terms of distance above the Earth’s surface and degrees above the horizon), and where they are relative to the Earth’s shadow cone (they have to be illuminated by sunlight to be seen).

And Starlink will not be the only swarm of global broadband internet satellites, as other companies and countries plan to fly their own satellite constellations.

This situation illustrates yet another reason why we need a binding set of international laws that apply to all nations and are enforced by a global authority. The sooner we have this the better, as our survival may depend upon it. How else can we effectively confront anthropogenic climate change and the precipitous decline in biodiversity?

As for these swarms of satellites, two requirements are needed now to minimize their impact on astronomy:

  1. Build the satellites with minimally reflective materials and finishes
  2. Fly one internationally-managed robust constellation of global broadband internet satellites, and require competing companies and nations to utilize them, similar to the co-location often required for terrestrial communication towers

I’d like to close this piece with a few questions. Will future “stargazers” go out to watch all the satellites and generally ignore the real stars and constellations because they are too “boring”? Will professional astronomers increasingly have to move their operations off the Earth’s surface to the far side of the Moon and beyond? Will we continue to devalue the natural world and immerse ourselves ever more deeply into our human-invented virtual environments?

Stevens Point

I visited Stevens Point, Wisconsin for the first time over the Memorial Day weekend and, I have to say, this community of 26,000 is impressive. A great place to stay while you’re there is the Baymont Inn & Suites at 247 Division St. N. It is a short and pleasant walk to the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point campus, the Schmeeckle Reserve (wow!), and the Green Circle Trail. Michele’s Restaurant is only a few blocks down the street. Great food!

I miss living in a college town. It is energizing to interact on a daily basis with well educated, intellectually curious, and cosmopolitan people who are passionate about their work. I lived in Ames, Iowa—where Iowa State University is located—for nearly 30 years, and I feel more at home in Stevens Point, a smaller community, than I do now in Ames. I think Stevens Point is the nicest community I have visited since leaving Ames in 2005. Definitely would be willing to live there someday. UW-Stevens Point even has a physics & astronomy department, an observatory, and a planetarium. Perhaps I could help out in retirement.

Some towns have a lot going for them even without a college or university—around here, Mineral Point and Spring Green come to mind. Some towns are at somewhat of a disadvantage because they have a name that is not particularly attractive. For example, Dodgeville, where I currently live and work, has a moniker that isn’t all that inviting. But there is no place so nice to live as a college town—for people like me, at least.

My primary civic interests are in gradually developing a well planned network of paved, off-road bike paths, walking trails through natural areas, a center for continuing education, a community astronomical observatory, and a comprehensive and well-enforced outdoor lighting ordinance to restore, preserve, and protect our nighttime environment and view of the night sky. Living in a community like Dodgeville, I don’t get the sense that there is enough interest or political will to make any of these things happen. I can’t do it alone.

Right Turn on Red

It is time to put an end to right-turn-on-red. It unnecessarily puts pedestrians and bicyclists trying to cross at crosswalks in harm’s way. I’m old enough to remember driving when a red light meant stop—and stay stopped—always. I’ve never liked right-turn-on-red. During my 21 years working at the Iowa Department of Transportation, I learned that doing whatever we can to minimize the potential for driver confusion or uncertainty will always improve safety.

Massachusetts was the last state to adopt right-turn-on-red, on January 1, 1980. New York City still bans right-turn-on-red, unless a sign indicates otherwise. That should be the norm, not the exception.

Short of an outright ban, a good approach would be to put up signs at major intersections with crosswalks, as shown below, but I would add “or bicyclists” as bicyclists often must use pedestrian crosswalks when it is not safe to ride in the street.

“No Turn on Red When Pedestrians or Bicyclists Present” would be even better

The most dangerous situation occurs when a pedestrian (or bicyclist) is waiting for the crosswalk signal to turn from “Don’t Walk” to “Walk”, and a driver who will be crossing the pedestrian’s crosswalk is stopped at a red light. The driver is eager to make a right turn on red and can’t really see when your crosswalk signal turns to walk, so they may turn right in front of you at the same time you are (legally) starting to cross the intersection. This is even more dangerous for bicyclists because they move faster into the intersection than a pedestrian does. This situation is illustrated in the diagram below.

A pedestrian or bicyclist at the SE corner of this intersection is in danger crossing the street either west or north.

Here in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, a particularly dangerous location for pedestrians and bicyclists is the south-to-north crosswalk at the SW corner of the intersection of Bequette and US 18, where drivers frequently make right turns from US 18 EB to Bequette SB. Right turns should be prohibited here with a sign that says No Turn on Red When Pedestrians or Bicyclists Present.

The red “X” marks a particularly dangerous location in Dodgeville for pedestrians and bicyclists because right-turn-on-red is allowed here.

Year-Round Daylight Saving Time?

I’ve never been a fan of daylight saving time. During the warmest months for stargazing and other astronomy activities, daylight saving time (DST) puts the end of twilight (and every other astronomical event) an hour later: near, at, or past bedtime for children and early-rising adults.

The last time we tinkered with DST in the U.S. was to extend it in 2007 to begin the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November (previously it was the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October). We currently observe daylight saving time 65.4% of the year (almost ⅔) and standard time the remaining 34.6% of the year (a little over ⅓).

DST is a zero-sum game. Getting that extra hour the first weekend in November sure is nice, but we pay for it when we lose an hour the second weekend in March. For a few days in November, we feel like we’re sleeping in an extra hour, but for a few days in March, we feel like we’re getting up an hour earlier than usual.

While I would much prefer to stay on standard time all year long nationwide, there doesn’t appear to be much public support for that. On the other hand, there is a groundswell of support for going to year-round DST. Even this would be preferable to our current system, in my opinion.

We have toyed with the idea of year-round DST once before: from January 6, 1974 to October 27, 1974. During the winter months in early 1974, there was a lot of public outcry about schoolchildren going to school in the dark, and I’m sure the pre-sunrise cold was a factor, too. So, the year-round DST experiment was terminated early (it was supposed to last until April 27, 1975). Would it be any different this time around?

Northern states (where the winter nights are longest) would be most affected by year-round DST, as would areas in the far-western reaches of each of the time zones. Here in Wisconsin, we would see something like the following:

Some Highlights of Year-Round Daylight Saving Time in Wisconsin (times are for Dodgeville, WI)
  • Earliest End of Evening Twilight: 7:08 p.m. (around December 6)
  • Earliest Sunset: 5:26 p.m. (around December 9)
  • Latest Sunrise: 8:32 a.m. (around January 3)
  • Latest Onset of Morning Twilight: 6:50 a.m. (around January 6)
DateSunriseSunset
November 17:35 a.m.5:53 p.m.
November 157:53 a.m.5:37 p.m.
December 18:12 a.m.5:27 p.m.
December 158:25 a.m.5:27 p.m.
January 18:32 a.m.5:36 p.m.
January 158:29 a.m.5:51 p.m.
February 18:16 a.m.6:13 p.m.
February 157:59 a.m.6:31 p.m.
March 17:36 a.m.6:51 p.m.
March 157:12 a.m.7:08 p.m.

I have an idea. If we extend DST to year-round, why not also start the school day an hour later? There are studies that show that most students would benefit from a later start of the school day. Of course, that would also mean that many parents would probably want to start their work day an hour later, too. But if we do that, then what’s the point in going to year-round DST in the first place?

Many states are currently considering and some have even passed legislation extending DST to year-round, but federal law will have to change to allow any of these states to do this. Right now, states only have the right to opt out of DST altogether, as Arizona and Hawaii currently do.

Gas Tax and Road Maintenance

State and local roads and city streets have been in a downward spiral of deterioration for the past several years and something needs to be done. You have no doubt noticed this driving, but try riding a bicycle and you will really notice how bad things have gotten.

Here in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, many of the city streets are in such bad shape they are becoming dangerous for bicyclists. And more difficult, too. Ever try riding up one of our many hills on pavement that is badly cracked? No wonder I hardly ever see anyone else biking here.

I think the best way to fund road resurfacing and reconstruction projects is to increase fuel taxes. These taxes should not only fund maintenance of state roads, but local roads and city streets as well.

The current gasoline tax in Wisconsin is 51.3¢ per gallon. This includes the following components:

  • Federal tax: 18.4¢ per gallon
  • State tax: 30.9¢ per gallon
  • Petroleum inspection fee: 2.0¢ per gallon

Let’s increase gas taxes in Wisconsin by a minimum of 8¢ to 10¢ per gallon (more would be better) and use all of that revenue to resurface and reconstruct roads throughout the state. Small communities and rural areas are most in need of assistance.

Les Misérables

There have been many film adaptations of Victor Hugo’s timeless novel, Les Misérables, but after watching the 1935 film starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton last night, I am in no rush to see any of the others. It is, quite simply, perfect.

This movie says more in one hour and forty-eight minutes than most other movies (especially more recent ones) say in two or three hours. A riveting tale of unjust laws, poverty, inhumanity, cruelty, compassion, love, mercy, doubt, and morality, this is one of the most moving and inspiring movies I have ever seen. And just as relevant for us to today as it was in 1935 and when Victor Hugo wrote the book, first published in 1862.

We need movies like this to remind us (and in such complex and jaded times as these we do need constant reminding) that idealism can help each of us navigate through life, and—no matter what burdens we bear—to make the world a better place. Not a single minute in this movie is wasted, so artfully is each and every scene of the movie constructed. If you tire of (and are horrified by) the seemingly endless stream of dystopian prognostications in recent years, this movie is the perfect antidote. There is an alternative to a ruined world, and that change begins with you and me right now.

https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Les-Miserables/70073445

https://www.amazon.com/Miserables-Richard-Boleslawski/dp/B076LJ6Y7V/

All of the film adaptations of Les Misérables, including this one, have a number of departures from the original novel by Victor Hugo. Behind every great movie there is usually an even greater book, and I have been remiss in never having read Hugo’s classic. That deficiency will be rectified soon.

A Traffic Light at Merrimac

Even though the population of Dodgeville, Wisconsin is only around 4,800 people, there is quite a bit of traffic congestion along Dodgeville’s only real north-south through street: Iowa/Bequette, otherwise known as Wisconsin State Highway 23.

You’d never know it just driving through town, but the south part of WI 23 in Dodgeville is Iowa St. (S. Iowa St. south of Division St. and N. Iowa St. north of Division St.), and the north part of WI 23 is Bequette St., with the dividing line being Spring St., an unholy mess of an intersection that also includes Main St. and Diagonal St. (signed as Ohio St.). This is the perfect candidate for a roundabout if I ever saw one.

Making a left turn onto Iowa St. (which we often have to do) can be nerve-wracking with traffic, pedestrians, and in places poor visibility due to parked cars. A good way to solve this problem (and reduce the likelihood of accidents) would be to have one intersection along Iowa St. that has a traffic light. I think the ideal location for a traffic light would be the intersection of N. Iowa St. and Merrimac St.

Source: https://transportal.cee.wisc.edu/partners/community-maps/

Tax Choice

Wouldn’t it be nice if you got to choose where some of your income tax money goes? Where you the taxpayer have some say in how your hard-earned tax dollars are allocated?

Here in the dis-United States, about 50% of us want lower taxes, and 50% of us would be receptive to higher taxes provided that it pays for things we believe in like universal health care and low-cost or no-cost education.

Short of amicably splitting up our country (a civil separation), changing our tax policy may help alleviate some of the frustration many of us have that half of the country is keeping us from building the kind of country we want for ourselves and for our children.

Federal income tax, and state and local income tax (where in effect) would be divided into a non-discretionary portion (100% currently) and a discretionary portion.

When you fill out your tax return each year, you would designate the government agencies and programs where you want the discretionary portion of your taxes to go.

Going one step further, I would like to see taxpayers given the option to choose either the standard or a supplemental tax tier. Those who opt to pay higher taxes by choosing the supplemental tax tier would pay a fixed percentage more, regardless of income (like a true flat tax).

To be fair, those paying in at the higher supplemental tax rate should receive additional benefits compared to those paying in at the standard rate. This could mean lower medical costs, lower education costs, or increased social security payments during retirement, for example.

Would this be easier to implement than partitioning the U.S.? Perhaps. Would it be the more effective solution to satisfy those with very different viewpoints about the proper role of government? Perhaps not.

In my view, society is far too reliant on volunteers. If a job is worth doing, and if it is a benefit to society, then, more often than not, it needs to be a paid position. There is so much work of a humanitarian, educational, and environmental nature that needs to be done that cannot and will not be done by any capitalistic enterprise. As members of society, we all have an obligation to help fund these activities through strong government and non-sectarian non-profit partnerships.

I dream of a day when paying for our medical care is no longer tied to having health insurance through an employer, when each of us will have the freedom to work in a variety of capacities, for both profit and non-profit organizations, throughout our careers, and to receive adequate training and pay for those efforts.


Blue Light Blues

One by one, all of our warm white lights are being replaced by cold, harsh, bluish-white LEDs.  And it is happening fast.

Everywhere.  In our streetlights, our workplaces, even our homes.  How do you like looking into those blue-white vehicle headlights as compared with the yellow-white ones we have been using since the automobile was invented?

LED lighting is the way of the future, don’t get me wrong, but we should be specifying and installing LED lights with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2700K or 3000K—with few exceptions—not the 4000K or higher that is the current standard.

Why is 4000K the current standard?  Because blue-white LEDs have a slightly greater luminous efficacy than yellow-white LEDs.  Luminous efficacy is the amount of light you get out for the power you put in, often measured in lumens per watt.  But should luminous efficiency be the only consideration?  What about aesthetics?  In addition to luminous efficacy, there are other, more significant ways to reduce power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions:

  • Use the minimum amount of light needed for the application; no need to overlight
  • Use efficient light fixtures that direct light only to where it is needed; near-horizontal light creates annoying and visibility-impairing glare and light trespass, and direct uplight into the night sky is a complete waste
  • Produce the light only when it is needed through simple switches, time controls, and occupancy sensors; or, use lower light levels during times of little or no activity

Even the super-inefficient incandescent light bulb (with a CCT of 2400K, by the way), operating three hours each night uses less energy than the light source with the highest luminous efficacy operating dusk to dawn.  Think about it.

In my town, as in most now, the soothing orange 1900K high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights are being replaced with 4000K LEDs.  That’s a big change.  It will completely transform our outdoor nighttime environment.  Warm-white compact fluorescents are 2700K, and even tungsten halogen bulbs are 3000K.  Do we really want or need 4000K+ LEDs?

We are currently witnessing a complete transformation of our illuminated built environment.  Not enough questions are being asked nor direction being given by citizens, employees, and municipalities.  The lighting industry generally wants to sell as many lights as possible at the highest profit margin.  We as lighting consumers need to make sure we have the right kind of light, the right amount of light, and lighting only when and where it is needed.

Higher color-temperature lighting of 3500K or higher is often specified for office lighting during the day to more closely match daylight color temperature, but all to often this type of lighting is also being specified for nighttime use.  Lower color temperature lighting of 2700K or 3000K should be used for residential lighting and any other lighting that is primarily being used after sunset, such as streetlighting, parking lot lighting, and security lighting.