CEDAR CITY —  With a passion for dark skies and solutions in mind, Launch High School sophomore Elizabeth “Izzy” Eastep approached the Cedar City Council to raise awareness of light pollution and its effects on humans and wildlife.

Eastep approached the podium during public comment at an April City Council meeting and handed out flyers from the International Dark-Sky Association to attending council members and city employees.

“I’m here to express concern and provide a possible solution for the rising light pollution in Cedar City,” she said. “Light pollution is the brightening of the sky caused by manmade light, and it has become a greater problem in Cedar over the past few years.”

Light pollution harms both humans and wildlife, she said. The phenomenon makes it more difficult for people to sleep, leading to depression, anxiety and lower performance. It can disorient birds and affect their ability to navigate, altering their migratory paths. Additionally, light can attract animals into unwanted places, like a porch, she said

Light pollution

The city’s glow can be seen from Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park, which reduces visibility for astronomers, Eastep added. Visitors to the area are often seeking a view of the Milky Way galaxy to make a deeper connection to the universe, and decreasing light pollution in the city could increase tourism, she added.

Using motion sensors, timers and dimmers on outdoor fixtures can reduce the impact of light pollution because lights will only be in use when needed, she said and also proposed the creation of a city ordinance requiring lights to be shielded, which will redirect light downward and decrease the amount of light that’s wasted.

Councilmember R. Scott Phillips asked if there were examples of other communities that have implemented dark-sky ordinances and what the results were. Eastep said Flagstaff, Arizona, had been designated an Internation Dark-Sky City in 2001 and had seen an increase in wildlife.

Flagstaff has seen 90% less light pollution than other cities its size and the Milky Way is visible from most places within the city, according to the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition’s website.

Eastep said approximately 99% of Americans and Europeans were raised under unnatural skies and are constantly surrounded by city lights.

Last Wednesday, Councilmember Tyler Melling shared his experience watching the meteor shower over Memorial Day weekend. He said he spectated from an area on the city’s outskirts, near the Cedar City Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility and saw about three meteors per minute.

“But, to the south was a very distinct, orange glow – the city lights,” he said. “And I remember as a kid hanging out on the farm a couple miles closer to town than that and the glow not even being close to that and it was just a reminder that those night skies are starting to go away.”

Transitioning streetlights and safety concerns

The city is transitioning streetlights from approximately 800 south to the South I-15 interchange to more dark-sky friendly designs, Phillips told Cedar City News in a phone call. As bulbs burn out, or parts become unavailable or unusable, Public Works staff are replacing them with LEDs and redesigning fixtures so they illuminate the ground rather than the sky. The process is ongoing but Phillips estimated that the project is about 50% complete.

“It is part of the strategy of trying to develop a streetscape citywide that still allows for safety and allows for security but also provides the ability to protect the beautiful skies of Southern Utah,” he said.

Additionally, the city has installed caps to direct light toward the sidewalk on some of the streetlights on Historic Downtown Main Street, Phillips said.

“I suspect if we had all the money in the world, we’d probably look at some other kind of design for lights in the downtown area,” he said. “But so much money has been invested in those lights. We’re trying to find a way that we can still provide a cap on them to keep the aesthetic look of them but also provide the downlighting to support the dark skies.”

Councilmember Terri Hartley said that streetlights on the north side of Main Street have been replaced with downward-facing models but the south side is still a work in progress, which she hopes will be completed next year.

At the City Council Retreat in February, Phillips said the city should make an “exerted effort” to become a dark-sky community while speaking about the project.

“If we can provide proper, safe lighting throughout our city, and at the same time meet the standards of a dark-sky community, it will benefit the quality of life for all our citizens,” he said. “We should look at ordinances and best practices to ensure we achieve this.”

Because bright lights can cause temporary blindness, which reduces a person’s ability to see people in the shadows or oncoming cars, shielded lights can increase safety, Eastep told the council. Such fixtures increase the amount of light cast on the ground rather than into the air, better illuminating the sidewalk, she said.

Trying to make a difference

Eastep told Cedar City News she became an advocate for dark skies through her mom, Briget Eastep who is a professor at Southern Utah University and the chair of the Great Basin National Park Foundation.

She said she and her mom traveled to the park, which was designated an Internation Dark-Sky Park in 2016, where the teen gained an education about dark skies.

Using data collected at the Great Basin Observatory, Elizabeth Eastep conducted research into double stars, also known as binary stars, as part of a group project for school, her mother said.

“Izzy was captivated by the dark skies,” she said. “The next thing I know her research is done and she is making a presentation, as a concerned citizen, to the City Council.”

Describing her daughter as a “remarkable young lady,” she said she’s a proud mom who is grateful that Launch High School will allow the teen to continue creating projects and advocating for dark skies.

Additionally, Elizabeth Eastep said she found inspiration in Jane Goodall’s “The Book of Hope,” where she learned about climate change.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I really need to do something,'” she said. “So I … was like, ‘OK, maybe I can take this to City Hall and try and make a difference and make the world – Cedar City – a little bit of a better place.'”

Working toward solutions

It only takes 8 seconds for light pollution’s effects to disappear, said Elizabeth Eastep, adding that New York City residents would be able to see the Milky Way just moments into a citywide blackout.

Approximately 35% of light energy is wasted, amounting to about $3 billion of energy per year is lost to sky glow, caused when light pollution brightens the night sky. By shielding lights, so they point toward the ground and turning lights off when they’re not needed, communities can reduce light pollution, added Eastep.

“It’s something I think we should try and fix because it’s an easy problem,” she said.

Launch High School provides project-based learning and she suggested that students draft an ordinance or conduct research on behalf of the city. Her hope is to begin work during the fall semester.

Hartley said she’s not opposed to working with Launch High School to create a formal ordinance to benefit both the city and dark skies, as long as public safety can be addressed during the process.

“I’m a fan of dark skies,” she said. “I grew up in Cedar City and in the outdoors, so I do love the dark sky environment.”

Melling said at last Wednesday’s meeting that he doesn’t want to use the “heavy hand of government” to require citizens to change what’s being used on their property but suggested the city consider instituting basic parameters for new construction. Additionally, he said the city should continue to lead by example.

Phillips also said he would welcome student participation and would love to receive input from university and high school students.

“They bring a different perspective, they bring a different point of view and they are going to be our future leaders of the community,” he said.

Additionally, Phillip said writing and implementing dark sky ordinances is on the council’s mind, but there is work that needs to be done and he’d like to research guidelines and ordinances implemented in other cities to avoid “reinventing the wheel.”

“If there’s a lot of good, accepted practices already out there that other municipalities and entities have taken on, then we should look at those first, rather than trying to … discover it and make mistakes along the way,” he said.

The International Dark-Sky Association

The International Dark-Sky Association is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, whose stated goal is to “protect the night from light pollution,” according to its website.

“Our spirit is enriched by the wonders of the night — from the star-studded sky to the flash of a firefly,” the organization states on its website.

The organization offers tools for individuals, policymakers and others to reduce light pollution and raise awareness. Its website states that the association works to build relationships and welcomes public participation.

“We believe the night is a shared global heritage — for every person for all time, and light justice requires responsible lighting and access to a night, free of light pollution, for all communities,” the site states.

The organization works with advocates across the globe. These volunteers serve as local points of contact and currently, Utah hosts one chapter based in Salt Lake City, according to the website.

Visit the International Dark-Sky Association’s website to learn more about dark-sky research and initiatives.

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