Susan Harder Preserves the Milky Way View

Springs resident Susan Harder has worked with unfaltering dedication preserving the star-speckled beauty of the night sky, making lighting safer and eliminating light pollution. 

On March 26, she was honored by the Sierra Club, one of the most notable environmental organizations in the country, as the 2010 Environmentalist of the Year.

At a ceremony in Islip, she was presented with a proclamation sponsored by State Sen. Kenneth P. LaValle, R - Port Jefferson. In part, the proclaimation read, “This indomitable woman, eager in her efforts  and driven in her initiative, has distinguished herself in her career and her community  involvement;  the  citizens of this great Empire State have profited greatly from her dedication and service.”

 “It was so terribly nice,” said Harder. “I was astonished. I’m not used to having that much praise and acclaim."

Harder began learning ways to use light sensibly, she said, in 1996. She joined the international Dark-Sky Association in 2000 and is the New York State appointed representative for the organization. In 2006 she started the Dark-Sky Society, which is based here on Long Island.

Harder said her involvement in the cause all started in East Hampton. “The floodlights from my next door neighbor, the typical double-headed, so called, security lights – but they don’t offer any security. They had gone to bed and they left these big flood lights on and they were lighting up my whole ceiling," she said. "So that’s why I became tuned into this whole Dark-Sky issue, because it’s all about using lighting sensibly. Light up your property but light up your neighbor’s bedroom.”

Harder's passion is palpable. “This is one of the last places where we can see the Milky Way. Do we really want to lose the Milky Way?”

Harder was a successful art seller in New York City, and she said she felt privledged to devote herself to this issue following her retirement. “I had the luxury of spending the time and the money to improve my community.”

Since then Harder has educated herself and even became a lighting design specialist. She has worked as a consultant to the Long Island Power Authority with Richard Kessel, CEO, who changed all the lighting fixtures at the LIPA plants, more than 600 in total to focus light downward in order to make them Dark-Sky friendly.

She also helped with the lighting design of the . “My job basically is to disseminate information to educate people who are the decision makers," she said. She said this is basically what IDA and her organization, Dark Sky Society does.

Everyone wins when it comes to abiding by dark sky settings, she said. “Normally when you change out to dark sky settings, it can pay for itself."

Harder rallied support for the 2006 "smart lighting" code in East Hampton. She also provided technical information and advised the members of the committee who created the code. The code was adopted but gave businesses four years to comply.

In 2010, when it was proposed that commercial lighting be grandfathered in and not have to comply, people responded by speaking up in favor of dark-skies and the response was awe inspiring. She said that she was almost moved to tears by how much people care about protecting the night sky. Business were extended one year to comply and the issue is expected to be revisited later this year.

Harder said she has no plans to stop until there is no longer light pollution. "Water pollution is going to come and go. Air pollution is going to be here as long as we are here, but light pollution -  there is no need for it,” she said.

April 1 through April 8 is International Dark Sky Week