Lights Out Portland is a one-night event where residential households and commercial buildings dim their lighting in order to raise awareness about the impact of light pollution on migrating birds.
Nocturnal migrants that use the moon and stars to navigate can be drawn off course when passing over domes of skyglow that functionally blot out their starry guideposts. Once in lit areas, birds can collide with buildings or succumb to myriad of other hazards that the city presents, including windows, cats, and cars.
The Lights Out Portland event also seeks to draw attention to the wasted energy in the form of light that is thrown up into the sky and to remind us of the enduring beauty of the stars above the city at night.
The Oregon Convention Center (OCC) is proud to participate in this community awareness raising event each fall and will be turning its spire and crescent lights off at dusk on September 21, 2019 to support the annual Portland Audubon campaign.
OCC is one of at least 24 buildings participating in Portland this year, including U.S. Bancorp Tower, Fox Tower, Wells Fargo Tower, Park Avenue West, 200 Market, Lloyd 700, 1201 Lloyd, Lloyd Center Tower, Montgomery Park, OMSI, OHSU South Waterfront, 911 Federal Building, Metro Regional Center, and City Hall.
“Everyone needs to understand the effect artificial light has on birds as they navigate their migration path — not only on one day, but every day," says OCC executive director Craig Stroud. “The Lights Out Portland campaign seeks to make more people aware of this and to educate each of us on actions we can take to help our feathered friends.”
In partnership with Portland Audubon, OCC has also taken measures to be more bird-friendly all year round. Efforts include the adjusting of our energy-efficient spire LEDs to reduce their blue-white light output, turning these lights off an hour earlier through migration season, and regularly observing a lights out period during the morning commute.
Learn more and take the Pledge to Go Lights Out!
About the Oregon Convention Center
The Oregon Convention Center is owned by Metro and managed by the Metro Exposition and Recreation Commission. OCC is a sustainably operated LEED® Platinum facility that hosts groups from around the world and brings millions of dollars into the Portland and Oregon economy.