Paris, also known as the "La Ville Lumière" (The City of Light), is soon to be shed into darkness if proposals from the French minister for energy and environment go ahead.
Minister Delphine Batho unveiled plans which will require lights in and outside shops, offices, and public buildings, including the flagship Louis Vuitton store and the Lido cabaret house on Paris' Avenue des Champs Elysees, to be turned off between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. The plan, to be applied across all French cities, towns and villages, is aimed at saving energy and money and showing "sobriety".
The plans were mooted under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and are part of a broader European plan to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020. In January, his Government passed a measure that took effect in July, forcing stores and businesses to turn off neon lights highlighting their names between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
"Great! Another positive message sent to citizens and to tourists: the city will go dark!" said Sofy Mulle, vice-president of the France's Commerce Council, which represents all of the country's 650,000 merchants employing about 3.5 million people. "We are ready to make efforts, but the Government is cutting a fine line between sobriety and austerity. Surely, we can work out environmentally friendly solutions that have less impact on our society and our economy."
An environmental group that helped draft the plan says the energy saved each night will equal the output of a 1,300-megawatt nuclear reactor during an equivalent period. “There is no intention to put us all into darkness or frighten Japanese tourists,” says Alain Fleury, a leader of the Association to Protect the Sky and the Night Environment. “We can find a balanced way to consume and not always push for more."
