AUGUSTA (AP) – Supporters of a bill designed to keep Maine’s night skies dark told lawmakers Thursday it would help the state preserve an important resource that’s disappearing or gone in other states: glittering starlight.

The Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development heard public testimony on a bill that calls for statewide standards for commercial outdoor lighting.

The bill has the support of Gov. John Baldacci’s administration, which says it fits into what it has dubbed Maine’s Quality of Place, or what makes the state special. A side benefit is that it could save energy, said Sue Inches of the State Planning Office.

“We see it as good public policy,” said Inches, who noted light pollution regulations are already included in regulatory development standards by some state agencies. There are also scattered ordinances in some Maine towns, as well as in other states.

In Bar Harbor, voters in November approved a “dark sky” ordinance that requires bright lights installed since Dec. 4 to be shielded from the sky so they light up only what’s beneath them.

Among those speaking in favor of the bill calling for statewide standards was MacGregor Stocco of Belgrade, who has an undergraduate degree in astrophysics and works in community planning.

“Maine has dark skies, a lot of other states don’t,” Stocco said after the hearing. “By far, Maine has literally thousands more stars in the night sky than the four other states I’ve lived in.”

The bill also drew supporting testimony from the International Dark Sky Association, which sees the bill as an opportunity for the state to preserve a resource gone in many other places.

The Maine Municipal Association’s Jeff Austin told the committee that the idea isn’t bad, but that a single statewide standard isn’t the right approach because conditions vary region to region.

Curtis Picard, representing the Maine Merchants Association, told committee members that the proposal raises security questions, particularly for large department stores.

AP-ES-02-05-09 1545EST