Unpublished
Making Development Sustainable
While the world’s major development programs have generally facilitated sustainable growth in Latin America, their energy policies contain a glaring omission: they contain no provisions to maximize the efficiency of civic lighting, causing cities throughout Latin America to invest in inefficient fixtures and spend billions of dollars on wasted energy. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Organization of American States’s (OAS) Unit for Sustainable Development and the Environment (USDE), and the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) should correct this shortcoming in their policy in order to truly make development sustainable.
A devastating effect of urbanization, excessive and misdirected lighting radiating
skyward creates the effect known as light pollution. Poorly designed outdoor
lighting fixtures waste up to 40 percent of their energy. Cumulatively, thousands
of these lights represent a significant obstacle for energy-efficient development
strategies and a burdensome financial responsibility for cities. According to
the International Dark-Sky Association, $1 billion is spent annually in the
U.S. on extraneous illumination. However, in developing countries, where electricity
is far more expensive, this cost could be far higher. For areas with publicly
funded lighting, such as parks and city streets, valuable tax dollars are spent
on wasted electricity. Saddling developing nations with massive energy demands
stretches their budgets and jeopardizes their ability to support economic growth
by raising the demands on foreign investment.
With the high demand for electricity that poor lighting creates, local authorities
will be more willing to overlook more economically and environmentally sound
strategies in order provide for their area’s needs. To eliminate their
energy deficit, countries would have to build nuclear and coal power plants
and hydroelectric dams, facilities proven to carry devastating ecological consequences
for their surroundings. Facing high electricity costs, cities will be less inclined
to bankroll cleaner transportation alternatives, such as subways or hybrid buses,
forcing their citizens to rely upon fossil-fuel-consuming and smog-producing
transportation means.
Fortunately, wasteful lighting is not only preventable but reparable. In most
cases, it is the simple matter of installing inexpensive “cutoff”
fixtures that block upward light. More comprehensive and innovative approaches
include replacing outdated, wasteful lamps with longer-lasting, more energy-efficient
models. Beyond upgrading individual lighting fixtures, some cities have also
been able to successfully revamp their civic lighting strategies, effectively
illuminating public spaces with far fewer lamps.
Examples of successful energy waste reduction strategies abound. When the population
of the 15,000-person town of Vicuña in northern Chile began to expand
in the early 1990s, inefficient lighting threatened the town’s world-famous
dark skies. However, by replacing inefficient lamps and installing new fixture
designs, the town was able to reduce the amount of wasted light by 95 percent,
allowing many of the lights to be turned off. Vicuña’s motivation
for retrofitting its civic lighting was primarily external (it lies eleven miles
from the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, the location of several of
the world’s foremost telescopes and the recipient of $60 million annually
of investment for construction and operation). Nevertheless, by improving its
lighting structures, Vicuña nearly halved its power consumption and its
municipal lighting expenses. This small town has become a model for the simple
and inexpensive solutions to extraneous illumination that currently exist.
When viewed from space, the Western Hemisphere at night is transformed into a spider’s web of lights, radiating out from cities and towns. However, this must be understood not as evidence of the wide dissemination of technology, but rather as proof of a lack thereof. The growing presence of light pollution in Latin America reflects a growing notion that development in the region is anything but sustainable. Efficient lighting strategies are a crucial element in city planning and deserve to be included in the policies promulgated by USAID, the USDA, and the UNCSD.
Alan Cordova
Research Associate
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
1730 M Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20002
(202) 216-9261