Electricity in France

How's that socialism working out for you? From the UK Guardian:

Lights out � France to force shops and offices to go dark overnight
Shops and offices throughout France will be forced to turn off their lights overnight in a bid to fight light pollution, the country's environment ministry has announced.

Under the new law, which comes into effect on 1 July, lights in shop window displays will be turned off at 1am. Interior lights in offices and other non-residential buildings will have to be switched off an hour after the last employee leaves. Local councils will be able to make exceptions for Christmas and other special occasions, and in certain tourist or cultural areas.

The move, announced on Wednesday, is expected to save 250,000 tonnes of CO2 � enough energy to power 750,000 French households for a year.

The French ecology minister, Delphine Batho, said she hoped the law would change attitudes in France and help the country become a pioneer in reducing light pollution.

And the burglary rate will do what? Go up? Thought so... Misdirecting this as being a fix for light pollution is classic misdirection. You only need to be concerned about light pollution when you are a couple hundred miles from a telescope. France worked with Canada and Hawaii to build a nice scope on Big Island. There is a large radio telescope a couple hours South of Paris but light is not a problem. The major optical telescopes in France are located near Grenoble near the Swiss border, miles from any city. This is about electrical shortages, not CO2 reduction or "light pollution"