The AI Environmental Impacts Act, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), specifically calls out light pollution as a concern tied to the build-out of AI-related infrastructure in the U.S.
More info in Rep. Beyer's press release: https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=9143
#LightPollution research spans many fields, but progress is slowed because astronomers, ecologists, and lighting engineers use different rulers to measure the same night sky. This communication breakdown complicates how we manage outdoor lighting as a shared public resource.
Read more about why clearing up these discrepancies eliminates misunderstandings and gives city planners the precise data needed for better policy: https://www.darkskyconsulting.com/blog/the-language-of-light-standardizing-light-pollution-measurements
Creeping closer to #KesslerSyndrome...
#SpaceWeather News, May 19, 2026
PUTTING THE "MEGA" IN MEGACONSTELLATION
"Two months ago, headlines announced a Space Age milestone: #SpaceX now has more than 10,000 active #Starlink satellites circling Earth--two-thirds of all the working satellites in the sky. Analysts were gobsmacked by the pace of change.
Turns out, that's nothing. Back in January, SpaceX had already filed paperwork asking the FCC for permission to launch a million. The proposed #megaconstellation would become a solar-powered #AIDataDenter, requiring hourly rocket launches carrying a million tons of satellites per year."
Source:
https://spaceweather.com/
#Madness #TechBros #LowEarthOrbit #DarkSkies #KesslerEffect #Satellites #SpacePollution #LEO
Analyst on #China’s spent rocket stages: “Things only continue to get worse”
Spent upper stages are the most dangerous kind of #SpaceDebris.
Eric Berger – May 26, 2026
"Further growth is anticipated from both the company’s state-owned enterprises as well as a rapidly expanding number of private launch companies. There is nothing wrong with this, as China’s rapid growth in launch has been mirrored by the United States and, in particular, SpaceX.
"However there is an issue with these launches, as China appears to be ignoring long-established norms about disposing of the upper stages of rockets. These are the parts of the vehicle that separate from the first stage of a rocket and push a satellite or spacecraft into orbit."
[...]
" 'China… continues to abandon many rocket bodies in high low-Earth orbit,' Shell wrote on LinkedIn early Monday. 'The total mass of orbital debris is a key variable influencing the long-term sustainment of space. There is broad agreement that abandoning rocket body upper stages in long-lived orbits is not a best practice. In fact, all the major space-faring nations have acknowledged this.' ”
#SpaceJunk #KesslerSyndrome #KesslerEffect #Megaconstellations #DarkSkies #SpacePollution #SpaceX #LowEarthOrbit
"'There is increasing scientific evidence that both are having a significant and lasting impact on the natural environment and human health. To reverse this devastating damage, we need swift and effective action from both policymakers and legislators before it's too late.”
"I had come to the Permian Basin envisioning a mythic battle between two colossal orders, a galaxy-hunting telescope and a perpetually illuminated oilfield. I found a more disquieting situation, in which apparent antagonists have achieved procedural compatibility. The spectacle of opposition dissolves into a technocratic partnership that projects harmony while preserving extractive imperatives."
https://placesjournal.org/article/empire-loves-a-dark-sky-texas-lebanon/
"Contrary to frequent arguments put forward by opponents of this kind of policies, switching off public lighting has no significant impact on most types of crimes and a small impact on burglaries." (via @ssrn)
New preprint by S. Bará et al., "Protecting and restoring the sky quality at astronomical observatories" https://zenodo.org/records/20259634
In it, the authors argue that traditional regulatory frameworks, which focus primarily on source-by-source lighting controls and local "good practices", are structurally incapable of preventing an unbounded increase in overall skyglow. To remedy this, they propose a comprehensive, top-down framework based on enforceable territorial light emission budgets to actively protect and restore astronomical sites.
Dr. John Barentine FRAS
The-14
pierreacobas
DoomsdaysCW
