Letters

I was pleased to read in The East Hampton Press last week that light pollution was included in the list of the biggest environmental threats to the East End. It is under threat, and it is about to get worse due to a very bad decision by the East Hampton Town Board to use the wrong type of LED replacement for streetlights.

The Town Board is going along with the New York Power Authority streetlight salesmen to use LED that is too high in blue light, indicated by Kelvin. Their decision will also affect Sag Harbor’s streetlights.

The Town Board made that decision despite professional recommendations, precedents and mountains of evidence by medical experts of the dangers of blue light in LEDs.

A better choice, without any sacrifice for safety or financial cost, was readily available as a lower Kelvin LED. I never received a justification for using the higher blue light LED, and we all will suffer from this terrible decision.

The loss will be to our night vision, our safety, our health, our community character, our view of the night sky, and incalculable loss to flora and fauna, including the decimation of flickering fireflies in the night.

Susan Harder

East Hampton

Harder is an Illuminating Engineering Society-certified lighting designer and a New York State representative to the International Dark Sky Association — Ed.