This kind of reminds me of Seinfeld episode where regular showerheads are outlawed and the guys are forced to seek them out on the black market. But, in all their infinite wisdom, Congress passed legislation before the end of the new year that will ban 100W incandescent bulbs by the year…. wait for it… 2012.
“Wow! Whew! Glad we got to that one in time… hey isn’t there a war on?” says the American Consumer!
I can’t say I’m surprised. Leave it the government to take a good thing too far. Just as Americans were coming to the realization that using less energy is the right thing to do, not only for themselves but, for the environment, Big Brother steps in and ruins the party. I hadn’t even gotten started on my second drink.
I’m not really going to get into a CFL vs. Incandescent debate. I have CFLs in my home where I don’t want dimmable lights. CFLs are great in terms of their energy usage but, in my opinion, leave something to be desired in terms of light quality and disposal. And of course, the classic bulb is great for light but doesn’t last very long and uses more energy than needed. So, I use both but I’ve found that if you really want to help your energy bill, and the environment… the best idea is to turn off the lights when you leave the room!
I guess my question here is two fold. First, is this sort of legislation the type of thing the Government should be doing? Second, is it even necessary?
Well, on the first issue I suppose I would say it’s probably not. It should be up to consumers to make the decision as to how they power and light their home, seeing as they pay their own energy bill and not the government.
Second, the legislation itself seems kind of odd to me. First off, everyone knows that full wattage incandescents are on their way out. Over the next few years CFLs will come down in price and we will see a slew of new options from LEDs, Halogens, Fluorescent Induction, and heck… even energy efficient Incandescents! So why ban them? and if you Ban them, why in 2012? That’s kind of like baning typewriters in 2018, or 3.25″ Floppy Disks in 2031. It’s really not in sync with the market.
So while this is probably good for the people that are making the bulbs, I don’t think it was needed, especially considering the more pressing issues we have going on right now. But oh well, off to the Black Market.
Enjoy your 3 week break Mr. / Mrs. Congressman! Thanks Again!
Related posts:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This can only lead to a resurgence of organized crime and inflationary prices that occurred in 1879 when Edison’s invention displaced paraffin candle, also due to it’s unfavorable carbon footprint rating. Oh, the irony…
Also of concern to me is the fact that CFLs have to be disposed of as Hazardous Waste since they contain mercury… which is one of the key reasons that some people don’t like to use them b/c it is inconvient to get rid of them… so, unless there is a big PSA hit to inform consumers where to dispose of these lights, we are going to get a ton of these in the landfills and thus counteract any good that is done by using these products. While HHW dropoffs are becoming more widespread, people still have to travel to dispose of them, and come on, are you really going to drive 5 mi. just to throw away one lightbulb? The gov’t (or businesses, if you follow my husband’s thinking) need to consider adding them to recycle pick up or something so that they can be seperated and disposed of properly.
Something similar going on in the UK and the issue is beginning to pick up a real head of steam here. While there’s plenty of goodwill towards energy saving, compact florescent bulbs cause misery for a multitude of people with conditions like migraine, epilepsy, autism and sensory disorders because of the very slight flicker that they can sometimes give off. Now there’s moves afoot to persuade our government to ‘un-ban’ incandescents – at least to make some available for people who find the florescent sort intolerable…