OT: Lights Out for Paris, France

If you venture out in Paris between 1AM and 7AM, bring your torch (flashlight), says UK's Daily Mail.

As France's top court rules his 75% tax rate for the "rich" is unconstitutional, President Hollande goes on, trying to instill "sobriety" in the French by turning off lights in Paris and other cities, towns and villages all over the country.

And save money.

How about saving money by cutting your bureaucracy, Mr. President?

Instead, he will punish people - tradesmen, tourists, locals.

At least in France, rich people are defined as "having 1 million euro income or more", not like the US's 250,000 dollars or worse, Greece's 45,000 euro.

From Mail Online (12/29/2012; emphasis is mine):

Lights to be turned off in France to save money and show 'sobriety'

Paris may lose its trademark glow next year after plans emerged to extinguish its street lighting at night to save money.

French President Francois Hollande and his energy minister Delphine Batho are considering turning out the lights in and outside public buildings, offices and shops in the early hours of the morning.

If the scheme goes ahead, late-night revellers in the city would be advised to carry torches if they venture out between the hours of 1 and 7am.


The rules will also apply to other French cities, villages, and towns.

Batho said the measure would save energy and money, and show 'sobriety', although the plan has proved unpopular with traders.

It follows on from a new rule last July which states businesses must turn off neon lights between 1 and 6am. The measure was introduced as part of the French government's bid to improve its energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020.

But the proposal was not popular with businesses, who believe that it could kill trade and discourage tourists.

'Visitors and locals follow the light, from one spot to another, all night long,' French chef and culinary consultant Didier Quemener told Quartz.

'My clients don’t want to be in the dark in the City of Light.'

France was visited by more than 81 million tourists in 2011 and the tourism industry employs some 900,000 people, according to government figures cited by Bloomberg.com.

Fearing for the impact on the economy, vice-president of France’s Commerce Council, Sofy Mulle, told Bloomberg there must be a better way.

She said: 'Surely we can work out environmentally friendly solutions that have less impact on our society and economy.'

The plan is already in place at the city’s more than 300 churches, bridges, and monuments, including the Eiffel Tower.

'One of our main objectives is to change the culture,' energy minister Batho told a French TV station.

'We need to end the cycle of producing more because we are consuming more. There should be sobriety in energy use.'

The energy minister Delphine Batho's word sounds ominous to me. To change the culture, to what she and her boss think should be. There should be sobriety, forced by them.

Well, they won the election, so they must be thinking, like the US president and the Japanese prime minister, that they have the mandate.

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