"DarkSky in Europe" Member

Dear European amateur astronomers,
I’m Diego Bonata, president of CieloBuio (i.e.: Dark Sky). CieloBuio is an association born nearly three years ago to support a regional bill draft in Lombardy, Italy. CieloBuio coordinated the efforts against light pollution of Lombardy’s amateur and professional astronomers and observatories. We collected over 25 000 signatures to support the draft in few months (see IDA newsletter n.42 June 2000, p.8). Now Cielobuio is expanded nation-wide (see CieloBuio). Who of you attended at the Light Pollution meeting held in Paris in June 1998 may remember me: I made a report on the status of light pollution fight in Italy and on the Lombardy’s draft bill .

Since then some things changed. These are the main points:

• CieloBuio now counts more than 120 members among amateur astronomer groups including UAI (the national association of amateur astronomers), astronomical observatory, IDA-Italian section with its president Mario Di Sora and its scientific director Pierantonio Cinzano, light pollution experts (scientists, light designers, astronomer, lawyers) nation-wide.
• Lombardy bill has passed in January 2000. Now it is the law number 17 of March 27, 2000. We believe it to be the most effective anti light pollution law, surely in Italy, and perhaps of the World.
• In Italy we already have six regional laws out of twenty regions, but of these, three were spoiled by the intervention of light designers and producers.
• We are pushing four more regional draft bills modelled on the Lombardy’s one and we are working on a national bill, opposed by light designers and producers.

Now it’s time for all we, European amateur astronomers, to join to win the war against the problem that, untouched, will put an end to our passion for astronomy in few years. Such as in Lombardy the amateur astronomers associations pushed to obtain the best law on the planet yet, so ALL THE EUROPEAN ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATIONS must join together to pursue our common object. Moreover an European law against light pollution may be the first law wished from people of all its countries. Politics may appreciate this fact.

So I ask to you:

• to give your helpfulness such as representative of your association and of the other associations you can contact in order to start with a unitary European initiative. You should transmit directly to Falchi Fabio (CieloBuio - Scientific Commission): the representative (e-mail), the association, the nation, address and telephone number (eventually web site and e-mail).
• To give your helpfulness to deliver a common but personalised document (already written) to a EU functionary or committee. In this way we hope to create the need for a European law.
• to give your helpfulness (at least some of you) to a meeting with the European Commission
• to give your helpfulness in organising and coordinating the next steps for European bill.

The way to do that may be:

• I invite all the adherent the initiative to subscribe to Magnitude6 mailing list (CieloBuio is in Italian, so it’s not suited).
• A second way could be the CieloBuio web site where we have more than 30 Mb of documents on light pollution. We have the possibility to have an approximate but automatic and immediate translation in English. In CieloBuio web site we can develop a section in English on the European situation.

I’m sure we can do it! We all together may be the force needed to give a starry night to our future.
I’m waiting for you numerous partecipation to this definitive effort. Contact as many astronomer and association as you can.
A Dark European Sky to you all,

Diego Bonata
CieloBuio - President
Fabio Falchi
CieloBuio - Thecnical and Scientifical Commission 

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