Will Dallas be dark?
I’m all for saving energy and God knows we yell at the little one everyday to shut off the lights, but does the Dallas City Council really need to parent Dallas businesses? From DMN:
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight.
And Dallas is a jungle, but Dallas gives a beautiful light.
Songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s love letter to Big D’s skyline evokes visions of Reunion Tower’s blinking bulbs, the Bank of America building’s green neon glow and the blazing red hues of Pegasus, perched atop downtown’s Magnolia Hotel.
But these and thousands of other city lights could fall dark four hours each night under an ordinance Dallas City Council members will consider Wednesday as part of a broader effort to conserve energy and reduce power plant emissions.
According to an ordinance draft, businesses citywide would be required to switch off most of their exterior and signage lighting between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.
That includes:
• Decorative lighting, “such as lighting that illuminates or outlines a building’s facades or elements”;
• Lighting used to illuminate fountains, sculptures, flagpoles and other similar structures;
• Landscape illumination lighting;
• Lighting that illuminates premise signs, whether attached to or separate from a building.
Violators could face fines of up to $2,000.
Among the ordinance’s exemptions are security, hospital, traffic control, residential and transportation lighting. State and federal government facilities, as well as businesses open and operating between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., would also be exempt, according to the ordinance.
When I first moved to Dallas from New Orleans, I was blown away by the gorgeous skyline. My daughters, who were just little girls at the time, called Reunion Tower “the microphone” and the BofA building “the pickle building.” My oldest daughter now lives back in NOLA, and when she drives to Dallas to visit, she sees the skyline and knows she is close to Mom’s. The view certainly recharges your battery after a long, dark drive down TX80.
City councils all over the country are overstepping their authority when it comes to private property rights. Not long ago, CA lawmakers proposed a ban on incandescent light bulbs. This parenting of property owners needs to stop. Unless the City of Dallas is footing the electricity bill for a property, it is not their place to tell businesses to turn off the damn lights. Besides, don’t they know that it is improper etiquette to fly the American Flag at night if it’s not illuminated?
Well, “ladyliberty” obviously doesn’t get it. Or is it “Miche”? Energy consumption is the problem. Without enforcement (just like enforcing clean air, gas mileage, emissions and pollutants), useless, needless consumption will not go down.
What a stupid complaint. Liberty isn’t about irresponsibility, but about being accountable for your actions. Nobody has the “right” to be wasteful.
You are right about irresponsibility, but where in the race do you pick up the baton? It’s irresponsible for people to buy food that will rot and be thrown out- do we set limits on the proper number of fruits you can buy in a grocery store? It costs energy to do laundry- do we set limits on how many loads you can do a week? Regulation is not the answer. People are accountable for their actions when they pay for their consumption through higher bills.
I’d say people and businesses have the right to do what they wish with the things
they pay for.
A friend brought up a pretty big concern over an unlit Dallas: crime.
From http://www.dallascrime.com: