76|A FONDO Opportunity: Responsibility in public policies We are at a unique time in history, faced with a change of luminaries’ fever, the general substitution of every luminary installed for Leds. The argument for the substitution is energy savings. As if energy savings were light’s only virtue! Unfortunately, these substitutions of luminaries are made only by changing technology, trading a discharge luminary for a Led, but keeping the same design criteria and lighting regulations that date from the 50’s, and that were designed for the automobile of those days. In general, the people in charge of decisions are public authorities in political charges, completely ignorant of lighting, and their counterpart is the Leds’ salesman, who most of the time knows nothing about lighting ei-ther. Both parties understand the electric data: how many watts are being replaced and how much they are saving. This is the scene in most cities and towns, not only in Ibero-America but in the global context. Unfor- tunately, our profession is still unknown to many. I dare say that most lighting regulations were made with scarce or no participation of lighting designers. Savings The virtue of Led is that it was born in the age of softwares, that is to say, it’s a chip. Planning without con-sidering it can be programmed, dimmed, and regulated is missing the chance of a real improvement, not just energy savings. This is a great opportunity to get it right, specially knowing that there are places that spend up to 50% of their budget in the energy costs of urban lighting. Safety The total absence of lighting or a bad distribution of light, with dark areas and poor lit ones, creates unsafe spaces. In general, we tend to associate lighting with safety in public spaces. Total absence of light, not only creates