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As participants in Climate Week, September 18-24, discuss a range of environmental topics, New York, a legendary city internationally recognized for its luminous “skyline”, is criticized for its energy waste .

Published on: 09/19/2023 – 2:25 p.m. Modified on: 09/19/2023 – 2:29 p.m.

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The lights of New York under fire from environmental associations in the middle of Climate Week. As every year, the city brings together activists, politicians and personalities from the business world for hundreds of events, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly until September 26, aimed at reflecting on ways to confront the environmental crisis. .

But the dazzling lights, which make this “city that never sleeps” what it is, have long been a source of frustration for activists. The latter note a contradiction with the spirit of energy sobriety embodied by this summit meeting.

“I think there’s still a way to go before we see a brightly lit city for what it is, which is a blatant waste of energy and something that has a direct impact on nature,” Ruskin Hartley, director of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), which campaigns for the skies to remain dark at night, told AFP.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, outdoor lighting in the United States uses enough energy to power 35 million homes for a year.

New York, the bad student

Estimates by city are difficult to obtain, but it is clear that New York is one of the worst performers in this area in the United States, a country which, according to researchers, wastes much more than Europe.

As New York Climate Week attendees discuss a range of environmental topics, from reducing the carbon footprint of food to the role of art in activism, light pollution is expected be addressed, argues Ruskin Hartley.

“I think people are looking for ways to make an impact quickly, given the scope of the crisis we’re facing. And one of the simplest things we can do is look around us and see where we can reduce waste,” he adds.

The IDA estimates that outdoor lighting that can be seen into space accounts for 1% of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Nearly 250,000 dead birds

It’s not just a question of wasting energy. New York is in fact located along a bird migration route used by millions of birds each year, explains to AFP Dustin Partridge, a manager of New York City Audubon, an association campaigning for the protection of birds. .

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Up to a quarter million birds die from collisions with New York City’s buildings each year during spring and fall migration due to widespread use of reflective glass and artificial light pollution. pic.twitter.com/YJ86T55RPs

— Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals (@MayorsAlliance) April 16, 2023

Artificial light attracts birds to the city. During the day, they crash into buildings because they see reflections of vegetation in the windows. At night, they fly directly into lit windows.

“In New York, we have about 250,000 birds dying in collisions every year,” says Partridge. And Climate Week falls right in the middle of the fall migration.

But the seeds they spread are vital to the health of carbon-trapping ecosystems from Canada, where they begin their journey, to their various destinations in South America.

“You can go out in the evening in New York and see that there is a simple solution to protect biodiversity and contribute to the fight against climate change,” argues Mr. Partridge.

The nocturnal “skyline”, the city’s identity

Yet New York passed a law in 2021 requiring all city-owned buildings to turn off nonessential lights from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. during spring and fall migrations.

But these represent only a small percentage of all buildings. And a more recent bill introduced in May, which would extend the same rules to private and industrial buildings, is still before the city assembly.

Critics point out that New York’s iconic nighttime “skyline” is essential to the city’s identity. To this, activists respond by citing European cities that have started turning off their lights when the majority of the population is asleep. Like Paris, the “City of Lights”.

With AFP

2023-09-19 07:00:00
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