Why are people still putting up Christmas lights? Don they care?
I like the lights at Christmas (though I sometimes thinks it’s too much). To me I think they are important to lighten up the dark December now since we almost never have any white Christmas anymore, but I understand and agree with your point. I would like to encourage everyone to use LED-lights instead of ordinary lights. They are much more energy efficient and they also saves your economy in the long run.
The generators still run 24/7 whether your christmas lights are up or not, no real impact on the environment other than from their manufacture. New LED christmas lights produce more light for a fraction of the energy costs, but even if everyone switched to LED, you would not see a noticeable difference in electrical production and its accompanying fossil fuel waste. Plus if you live where nuclear or hydro is the source, there is no increase in pollutants.