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Consultant Scott Lynn urges La Crosse to favor warmer, shielded streetlights to cut skyglow
Summary
At a joint La Crosse meeting, consultant Scott Lynn told officials that switching to warmer, fully shielded fixtures (about 1,800–2,200 K) and reducing uplight can sharply reduce skyglow and energy use; staff said they will draft a lighting ordinance and Lynn offered to help develop a model.
Scott Lynn, a part‑time consultant with Mead & Hunt and president of the Kickapoo Valley Dark Sky Initiative, told La Crosse officials that recent conversions from high‑pressure sodium lamps to white LEDs can unintentionally increase night‑sky brightness and that warmer, shielded fixtures offer a practical alternative.
Lynn opened by describing satellite imagery from 2016–2022 and local ground measurements in his Ontario test area, saying the ground readings rose much more than the satellite data indicated after LEDs were installed. “We installed 3,000 Kelvin instead of 4,000 Kelvin. They reduced the amount of light coming out of those fixtures by 50% … and still our sky got 54% brighter,” Lynn said, using the contrast to explain how blue‑rich LEDs scatter…
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