Get ready boys and girls, it's time to start scouting for loans in case you need to buy a light bulb. The federally mandated ban on incandescent bulbs will leave us with light bulbs that cost $40 minimum currently. There's a prize to get a bulb that will cost "only" $22. Oh, by the way, the new bulbs contain mercury, need to be disposed of in toxic dumps rather than simply thrown in a garbage bag, and require special instructions from the EPA on how to clean up should one break, including ventilating the area.
Seriously, when did we accept that the federal government should be telling us what light bulbs to buy. We're going to have to institute a light bulb stamp program for the poor. I think everyone in government who is responsible for this ban should be placed in public housing for the rest of their lives. Better yet, make them live on an Indian reservation. Their collective IQs probably don't add up to the lowest wattage bulb available. Write your congressman, it's time to stop this idiocy. I really am considering a move to New Zealand.
Agree!
ReplyDeleteOverall, the ban on the popular simple cheap safe types of
incandescents makes no sense, from any perspective...
not just re choice,
not just re usage safety,
not just re there not being an electricity shortage for paying
customers (and even less so in the future, with all the renewable and
low emission alternatives)
- but also the overall society energy savings are small, less than 1%,
as from US Dept of Energy own figures:
http://ceolas.net/#li171x
Besides, notice how light bulb manufacturers have pushed for and welcomed this ban on cheap unprofitable light bulbs, as also covered on the website with documentation and references...
RE LEDs...
ReplyDeleteLEDs - like CFLs before them- have recently been found to have
serious home breakage and disposal concerns,
having lead, arsenic and toxic vapor content, according to University
of California (Davis and Irvine) research
http://ceolas.net/#li20led
They suggest wearing safety protection when breakage occurs and that
the bulbs should be recycled.
They also maintain that there was insufficient product testing before
LED bulbs came onto the market. There was a law that was supposed to
take effect on January 1 that would have mandated such testing, but it
was opposed and blocked by industry groups, and has been put on
hold...