For streetlighting there is one feature MV's would not meet: Point-like light source except uncoated types (but these are really not efficent).
If you want to send the light into required pattern with high efficiency, your optics has to be much larger then your light source. To have reasonable size lantern, you need really small area source, so why MH win there.

For MV lamps the phosphor coatings can actually increase light output and improve color reproduction.On HPS lamps the coating does reduce the light output.

And Dark Sky, they favor the usage of ugly yellow-orange light to white light?  Makes no sense at all.  Light pollution in an orange color is more of a pollutant than that from a white light (and go figure--clouds are white.)  Why make the sky look like orange sherbet? 

I know this is a really old topic, but this section caught my eye:

Now I happen to like sodium lighting, but that isn't the point. The reason Dark Sky (and any astronomer for that matter) prefer sodium light is because it is easier to filter out in telescopes and so makes astronomical observation much easier. See here for details.

Were there really issues with wildlife being affected by white light, say form MV lamps, before the days of HPS? Other than sea turtles I was never aware of any major wildlife issues caused by white light at night. And who cares about astronomers. Never understood the whole big deal about space exploration personally. We need to sort out our own issues here on earth before we start causing issues on other planets...

Were there really issues with wildlife being affected by white light, say form MV lamps, before the days of HPS? Other than sea turtles I was never aware of any major wildlife issues caused by white light at night. And who cares about astronomers. Never understood the whole big deal about space exploration personally. We need to sort out our own issues here on earth before we start causing issues on other planets...