S.F. Supervisor proposes lights-out for downtown

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

San Francisco's picturesque skyline would be dark at night under a first-in-the-nation law proposed Tuesday that would mandate all skyscrapers turn off nonemergency lights after work hours.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said his measure would reduce the energy wasted in the city's downtown.

"Anyone who has passed through our Financial District after dark knows that many large financial buildings in the downtown keep their lights on throughout the night even when there is not work or janitorial service going on," Peskin said.

The proposed light ban is reminiscent of the so-called "watt cops," the police officers who patrolled some California cities in search of people using unnecessary lights during the state's 2001 energy crisis.

But this time, there is no statewide emergency. Under the proposal, energy-wasting scofflaws would face fines for each floor where lights are on, with $50 for the first infraction, $100 for the second and $250 for any subsequent violation.

The proposal would also require businesses undergoing major renovations to install devices that would automatically turn off lights when nobody is in a room.

You can't own a gun in San Francisco while they want to shut off the lights on you.