> "Even now, massive changes in the practice of lighting take place without much thought about the consequences. The most obvious example is the transition from incandescent light bulbs to LED bulbs earlier this century. We replaced 60-watt incandescent bulbs with 60-watt LED bulbs. But LED bulbs are 10 times as bright as incandescent bulbs."

A 60w led bulb for a household light fitting ... now that would be sweet. Even a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) with Edison fitting, the largest I had was 24 or 28 W to replace using a 150W spotlight.

There were reasons it got worse though:

   less pressure to turn lights off as the newer types lights usually didn't burn as much, for example when introduced into the common market, one could leave 3  CFL bulbs  on as each used less than a quarter as a single 100w if it were on instead.  In the late 90s it was still habitual for some people to insist others turn off the light as they left the room so as not to incur a high electricity bill.   
   
   The rise of halogen bulbs which were well suited to being outdoors since at fitting the power was typically low voltage and much tougher than regular incandescent bulbs, some were even more rugged than the 150w regular floodlight bulb.  Instead of one or two 150w floodlights for the back and or front from rooftop when entertaining or kids playing outside at night, multiple poorly positioned near ground level halogen lights.
   
   Where once those concerned with power use of multiple lights outside for security might have used a number of much lower powered incandescent bulbs with a highly reflective shade to direct light where it was needed, newer installations more often don't consider power usage, a brighter bulb doesn't need a good reflector.
   
   The rise of an idea that lots of bright light lights  might deter thieves at night.