Letters to the Editor

News, May 5: “Light up the Streets”

Good and Bad

So glad light pollution is being considered before moving forward! LEDs are a no-brainer, but there are good and bad ways to implement that change.

Brent Broome via Facebook

Let’s get it right

Soft Lights would like to commend Councilor Michael Garcia for wisely recommending that Santa Fe pause the attempt to install toxic LED streetlights all around Santa Fe. If the city is going to take out a large loan for this project, why not do it correctly?

Regina Wheeler continues her efforts to make the selection process secret. First she hid the list of streetlights she received from Dalkia....Then she tried to keep the names of the Streetlight Steering Committee secret. Now her latest effort is in hiding the color temperatures from the public during the demonstration process. Selecting the streetlights has major health implications. City officials must stop hiding the toxicity of these street lights from the public. Besides color temperature, what is the peak luminance of these lights?

Your article did not mention the disability community and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Soft Lights has informed the city over and over again that high-color temperature, high-luminance LED streetlights are discriminatory because they prevent people with light sensitivity disabilities from navigating the city without undue harm. ...We hope that your next story can focus on how harmful these lights are and explain why Wheeler refuses to protect people with light sensitivity disabilities.

Mark Baker Softlights.org

Out of town too?

Sure wish the National Guard Building on the south end of town would adhere to this policy. Those lights shine for miles.

Suzanne Chavez via Facebook

7 Days, May 5

Bad Form

“Joking” about exterminating a species one week after an article pointing out our ecological precarity. Can you, like, not? Thanks.

Arlo James Barnes Lamy