Nature Connects: Work across the aisle will protect Maine’s night sky
A new law ensures that our children and grandchildren will enjoy one of our state’s best natural assets.
Sen. Stacey Guerin and Rep. Laurie Osher | September 2026
Mainers of all stripes treasure the natural features that define our state. Clean water and fresh air, the rocky coast and the vast forest are part of the reason we heave a sigh of relief as we arrive home.
Maine’s night sky is one of those assets that sets our home apart from other places. Here, we can still enjoy a night sky studded with stars, a sight that is all at once awe-inspiring, humbling and reassuring in its constancy. It’s also increasingly rare in North America and around the world.
That’s why we two very different legislators — a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican — partnered this past session to advance a modest and practical new law to help ensure that our children and grandchildren will enjoy the same night skies that we love. The Maine Legislature enacted that law, effective this Oct. 1.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that more light means more safety. After all, we’ve been conditioned by fairy tales and Hollywood to be afraid of the dark. But anyone who has been semi-blinded by the glare of approaching car headlights knows that overly bright lights shining in the wrong place actually keep us from seeing what we need to, creating risk.
Glare, sky glow and light shining where it isn’t intended or needed (like in your neighbor’s yard or windows) are all forms of light pollution. This modern scourge is so widespread that most North Americans cannot experience a natural night. Given how important the night sky has been to humans throughout our history — guiding agricultural practices, supporting navigation and inspiring art, literature and mythology — that loss is tragic.
The consequences are not just aesthetic. Dark Sky International estimates that at least 30% of all outdoor lighting is wasted. Wasted electricity requires more energy generation and contributes to global climate change.
Light pollution harms the world around us, from leading hatchling sea turtles away from the ocean, to disorienting and exhausting migrating birds, to altering reproductive behaviors in amphibians, even disrupting the life cycles of plants and trees. The world is experiencing a biodiversity crisis, with 40% of animals and 34% of plants at risk of extinction. Unnecessary and overextended use of outdoor lighting will only continue to place ecosystems at risk if we don’t put protective measures in place.
Humans, too, respond to our planet’s 24-hour pattern of light and dark. When our internal clocks are disrupted by artificial light at night, we can suffer sleep disorders and other serious impacts on our mental and physical health.
Fortunately, light pollution is the easiest form of pollution to correct. We need only to adopt responsible outdoor lighting practices. Responsible lighting fixtures point down, are shielded, use responsible light levels and a warm color temperature and are turned off when not needed.
The new law requires government-owned and publicly funded facilities to follow those responsible practices for new or replacement lighting. It includes special standards for public outdoor sports facilities, practices already working at Bowdoin College’s new athletic field.
Finally, the law allows municipalities to adopt local ordinances and directs the Maine Office of Community Affairs to develop a model ordinance.
The law does not apply to airports and highways, to publicly operated ski facilities, seasonal décor or to lights used in emergencies or for road construction. It allows the Department of Public Safety to adopt rules to protect public safety.
Beyond what the new law requires of public lighting, each of us can contribute to the effort by using responsible lighting at home, directing light at what we need to see and turning it off when it is not needed. We can encourage our local leaders to adopt municipal ordinances regulating lighting, as a dozen communities across the state have already done. We can talk to our friends and neighbors about the benefits of limiting wasted light.
If reducing waste, saving electricity costs, addressing climate change, protecting ecosystems and human health while promoting true safety weren’t enough reasons to fight light pollution, there is another one: $10 billion. That’s the global value of tourism to see the beauty of the night sky. It’s a growing trend, and Maine is perfectly situated to draw visitors to experience what they cannot see at home.
We’re proud to have set aside our differences to protect a vanishing resource. Please join us to ensure that we all can continue to experience the awe and comfort of a starry night sky.
About the authors:
Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Penobscot, represents District 4 in the Maine Senate. Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, represents District 25 in the Maine House of Representatives.
“Nature Connects” is a monthly column showcasing conservation stories from people and organizations across Maine. To learn more or suggest story ideas, email reply@mcht.org.