Why LEDs haven't yet cut energy use for lighting

[NickB79]

6. And as the article shows, that's not happening

It's actually really concerning, as light pollution is a serious ecological problem across North America, Europe and Asia.

It's like a guy trading in his 20 mpg truck for a 50 mpg Prius, but then driving 3x as many miles because he's saving so much on gas.

One step forward, two steps back.

And I can't even say I haven't been sucked in. Cheap LED lights let me convert a corner of my dark basement into a well-lit area to overwinter huge numbers of houseplants and start vegetable seedlings in spring, when there's still snow outside. I put LED solar lights on my daughter's playset so she can keep swinging after dark. My chicken coop has a solar light to increase egg production in winter. Humans crave light, and it's a hard thing to ask them to intentionally darken cities and homes when it seems so affordable not to.