Tuesday, November 29, 2011

EDITORIAL: Time to stock up on light bulbs

Within four weeks, it will be a crime to manufacture a 100-watt version of Thomas A. Edison’s brilliant invention. Thanks to a Democratic Congress and the signature of President George W. Bush in 2007, anti-industrial zealots at the Energy Department received authority to blot out one of the greatest achievements of the industrial age. They’re coming for our light bulbs. Know-it-all bureaucrats insist that foisting millions of mercury-laden fluorescent tubes on the public is going to be good for the planet. The public obviously does not agree. Voting with their wallets, people have overwhelming favored warm, nontoxic lighting options over their pale curlicue imitators. Beginning Jan. 1, Obama administration extremists will impose massive financial penalties on any company daring to produce a lighting product that fully satisfies ordinary Americans. The Republican House hasn’t done enough to stop this. Rep. Michael C. Burgess, Texas Republican, added language to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill to prohibit the ban’s implementation. A Senate committee deleted this sensible amendment in September, and it’s been quite a while since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has allowed an up-or-down vote on a funding bill. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership hasn’t made this a priority. Many in the GOP remain cowed by the fraudulent claim that these are just harmless “energy standards” and opposing them would be a crime against the environment. The reality is that this ban is yet another example of the sort of job-destroying regulations that enrich the administration’s friends at the expense of consumers. Specifically, the rules turn a 50-cent light bulb into a purchase of $3 or more...more

And that ain't all. In case you forgot, look at what they are already doing...

Rampaging bureaucrats aren’t just satisfied with foisting inferior light bulbs on the public. The Energy Department uses the force of the federal government to redesign an entire suite of consumer products to meet their personal preferences. In nearly every case, their meddling makes things worse. Current regulations micromanage the function of ceiling fans, clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, faucets, freezers, furnaces, heat pumps, lamps, pool heaters, power supplies, refrigerators, room air conditioners, shower heads, stoves, toilets and water heaters. Enough is enough.

1 comment:

Panta Rei said...

Agree with the editorial

Besides,
only 1-2% of grid electricity saved by the ban (Dept of Energy etc
sources ) http://ceolas.net/#li171x
As seen, there are much more relevant generation, grid distribution
and consumption savings.
And light bulbs don’t burn coal or release any CO2 gas!

Household energy saving does not necessarily save money anyway.
Electricity companies are allowed to raise prices, or be
taxpayer-subsidised, for any lowered electricity sales
http://ceolas.net/#li12ax – California, Ohio etc as well as UK
(Europe) etc references

As covered there,
the ban is also about profits for lobbying light bulb manufacturers –
as they openly admit.

What is called “Old Obsolete” incandescent technology,
is also well known and safe technology
We can welcome the new without banning the old.

It is a new strange kind of political logic, to ban simple safe cheap
and popular products:
Little point in banning what people don’t actually want!