Dear Senator (or Representative) XX,

I’m contacting you as a constituent to express my strong support for bill in the the 2025 legislative session that will update the existing Night Sky Protection Act and to ask you to support it.

New Mexico has a valuable resource in its dark skies: they attract visitors and new residents, are part of our cultural heritage, and are important for human health and wildlife. The state recognized this in 1999 and passed the Night Sky Protection Act. However, much has changed in the last 25 years, and light pollution has continued to increase. Fortunately, new technology and increased awareness has led us to recognize that we can implement responsible lighting that meets or exceeds needs including safety and security while at the same time protecting our skies and the values that they offer.

The New Mexico Chapter of DarkSky International is proposing some small, but impactful, modifications to the Night Sky Protection Act, requiring new lighting to be shielded to a modern standard and to remove some of the exemptions in the original act that are no longer necessary. These are common-sense changes that will help to keep light pollution from continuing to increase.