Is too much outdoor lighting harmful and pointless?

Extremely brightly lit outdoor spaces strike me as harsh, and, for the purpose of safety, overkill. It also seems to me that this situation is getting worse. Apparently it's not just me. Mother Jones has a report on the negative effects of night glare:

Today's gas stations and parking lots are often ten times brighter than they were 20 years ago. The ubiquitous glare confuses wildlife, degrades our mental health, and occludes our view of the universe—all because we think that it makes us safer. But does it? Not necessarily, as Paul Bogard, the author of "End of Night: "Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light," points out:

"In 2008, PG&E Corp., the San Francisco-based energy company, reviewed the research and found 'either that there is no link between lighting and crime, or that any link is too subtle and complex to have been evident in the data.' "

The data actually speaks more clearly about how light pollution makes us less safe.

Read the article here.