Medical association weighs in on outdoor light pollution

The American Medical Association included a resolution advocating efforts to control light pollution and reduce glare on the agenda for its 2009 annual meeting in June.

The list of resolutions runs the gamut from medical policy issues to matters further afield, such as the tax deductability of student loan payments and human rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution regarding outdoor lighting is number 516 out of 736 resolutions considered.

In the resolution, the doctors call for all future outdoor lighting to "be of energy efficient designs to reduce waste of energy and production of greenhouse gasses" and that "all future streetlights be of a fully shielded design or similar non-glare design to improve the safety of our roadways for all, but especially vision impaired and older drivers."

The AMA Resolutions (PDF)

Hat tip: LightNOW blog