Energy conservation is a buzz word today. Everyone is getting on the band wagon to conserve, including our presidential candidates. I started a daily walking regimen on the east side of Fremont about a month ago and noticed that not everyone is practicing conservation.
Why would the Splash Station water park be lit up like high noon at 5 a.m. on a Saturday? Why is the middle school gym and parking lot lit up at the same hour? Does the power plant really need all of those lights on 24/7? Aren’t some of those decorative?
I posed these questions to my wife and she thought that it might be to keep unwanted people out of these places. I considered this and came to the conclusion that this could not be the reason. If lights alone would keep unwanted people out, we would have lights along the U.S.-Mexican border. But that is a letter for another day.
If lights are considered a deterrent, motion detectors on fewer lights would accomplish the same thing with a lot less electric waste.
The city does not have a monopoly on overuse of power. The Nazarene church uses three lights of the 12 on their parking lot while across the street First Lutheran uses all 28 of theirs. It is so bright you could read the Tribune in the middle of the night. Granted it is a beautiful new church to be proud of but does one need to admire it through the night? I am not a member but if I was, I would suggest fewer lights in strategic places and use the savings for something worthwhile such as more dollars to support missionary work.
If our city and school officials would take a good look at ways to curtail excessive use of energy, that would save all of us some tax dollars. Let’s use some common sense.
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