He's dead Jim.
Posted on 10/06/2007 7:49:52 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
Environmentalists often tout the theory that investing in forward-looking energy-efficient technologies is a smart way for U.S. companies to create domestic jobs and carve out a competitive niche in the global economy of the future. But it doesn't necessarily have to work out that way. On Thursday, General Electric, citing the fact that sales of incandescent bulbs are declining by about 10 percent a year, announced that it was closing seven lighting manufacturing facilities in North and South America.
Six of those plants are in Ohio. The vast majority of the compact fluorescent light bulbs that are replacing incandescents are manufactured in China. A union-led campaign launched in March argues that GE should invest in new lighting technologies in the United States, but GE claims that to manufacture CFLs in the U.S. would require adding 50 cents to the price of each bulb.
(At Screwthatbulb.org, a site created by the Communications Workers of America, the union claims that the European Commission banned Chinese-manufactured CFLs, but that assertion is not correct. There is a steep tariff on Chinese CFLs in the EU, but even so, two-thirds of the CFLs sold in Europe are made in China.)
A story in the Youngstown, Ohio, Vindicator covering the closing of two local plants serves as a minor elegy for every factory forced to close by the pressures of globalization.
GE said Thursday the Austintown Products Plant and Niles Glass Plant are to be shut down Nov. 1, 2008, with production shipped to foreign plants or outside suppliers....
The Austintown plant, which has 73 workers, is one of three plants that make filaments for incandescent bulbs. [A spokesman for GE] said production volumes for these bulbs are down, so the company now can fill all of its orders at the other plants, which are in Mexico and Hungary....
So, yet another paradox that may not bear too much pondering, if one wants to make it through the day. Replacing your incandescents with CFLs will cut your electricity bill, there's little doubt about that, but it will also contribute to job loss in Ohio, and the likely increase of industrial pollution in China.
>Is that why those Japanese auto plants are springing-up all over like mushrooms?
And in right to work states, at that.
Good catch. Touche`
Ping for later.
Thats it, I believe that you are right.
It was mercury that everyone was screaming about, but if I recall correctly - and I’m quite sure about this - it was the EU members who basically outlawed regular bulbs.
Didn’t they mandate the new energy saving bulbs to save electricity only to find that they use more electricity to recycle them than they ever saved?
“Let me ask you this. Let’s say that the U.S. Congress is considering a bill to phase-out incadescent lamps. Should GE act proactively, or sit on its ass until it becomes law?”
You still have provided no links to support such a contention. And the article clearly said that the sales of incandescent bulbs is already dropping 10% per year. That’s not congressional action but consumer choice, one of the holy grails of most Freepers.
As usual, you try to change the subject, and still provide no support for your assertions.
1 . Fluorescent Lightbulb Implementation Program to Save Americans Value and Energy (Introduced in Senate)[S.1562.IS]Some or all of them apply (meaning that they are impending legislation). I'm not going to bother telling you which ones, because it is clear that you lack an even fundamental understanding of the subject matter. And don't get me started on the Code of Federal Regulations. You could use a little homework.
2 . Energy Efficient Lighting for a Brighter Tomorrow Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)[S.2017.IS]
3 . Children's Mercury Exposure Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2813.IH]
4 . Energy Efficiency Promotion Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)[S.1115.IS]
5 . Energy Savings Act of 2007 (Placed on Calendar in Senate)[S.1321.PCS]
6 . Energy Savings Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2556.IH]
7 . Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)[H.R.3236.IH]
8 . Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2007 (Reported in House)[H.R.3236.RH] 10 . Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate)[H.R.6.EAS]
11 . Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (Public Print)[H.R.6.PP]
12 . Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2950.IH]
13 . New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act (Introduced in House)[H.R.3221.IH]
14 . Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.3221.EH]
15 . Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (Placed on Calendar in Senate)[H.R.3221.PCS]
16 . New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act (Introduced in House)[H.R.3220.IH]
The quote you responded to is #136 is not mine, though I might have copied and responded to it in a comment.
And you might be right. Makes one wonder why the sale of those bulbs would be allowed here if they ever looked at the total cost from manufacture to disposal.
I don’t know what happened to 9, and I don’t care.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
What if I accidentally break a fluorescent bulb in my home?
The most important thing to remember is to never use a vacuum. A standard vacuum will spread mercury containing dust throughout the area as well as contaminating the vacuum. What you should do is:
• Ventilate the area.
• If possible, reduce the temperature.
• Wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses, coveralls or old clothing, and a dust mask to keep bulb dust and glass from being inhaled.
• Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container.
• Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. There are several ways to do this. You can use a disposable broom and dustpan, two stiff pieces of paper or one of the many commercial mercury spill kits available.
• Put all material into an airtight plastic bag. Pat the area with the sticky side of duct, packing or masking tape. Wipe the area with a damp cloth.
• Put all waste and materials used to clean up the bulb in a secure closed container and label it “Universal Waste - broken lamp”.
• Take the container for recycling as universal wastes.
He's dead Jim.
I remember my buddy dropping a pallet of 4-foot flourescents from about 20 feet. (30 per box, 40 per skid, iirc). It was hilarious . . . he cowered under the cage of the forklift as the boxes exploded (imploded, rather) around him. We breathed that dust all day.
Ma! I’ll be reading all weekend! [wail]
You and toddsterpatriot must have a reading comprehension problem because you keep giving answers to things I’ve never said.
And thanks to both of you for all those links which prove me correct. I have said over and over that the past, and present, annual 10% drop in the sale of incandescent bulbs is due to consumer choice, not any in place governmental regulation:
“On Thursday, General Electric, citing the fact that sales of incandescent bulbs are declining by about 10 percent a year, announced that it was closing seven lighting manufacturing facilities in North and South America.”
Try really hard to get this: Sales of incandescent bulbs are ALREADY falling by 10% per year:
“Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) — General Electric Co., founded by incandescent bulb developer Thomas Edison, plans to cut about 1,400 jobs at its lighting division as the company closes plants in the U.S. and Brazil amid a consumer shift to more energy- efficient fluorescent lamps.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=anvSgr0844_0&refer=us
Notice it says due to a CONSUMER SHIFT. That’s what I’ve said time and again: this is due to consumer choices ALREADY BEING MADE and NOT DUE TO ANTICIPATED OR IN FORCE REGULATIONS, even though they might or might not become a factor in the future.
More from Bloomberg:
``It’s really consumer buying patterns,’’ Campbell said in an interview today. ``We’re really trying to be aggressive here and take the lead, restructuring the plants and right-sizing ourselves to leverage what we see in the market.’’”
Maybe you can get it now, but...
Of course, we know that billion-dollar international corporations never, ever look at what’s coming out of DC until it slaps them in the head. /s
There are no regulations making incandescent bulbs illegal.
LOL!
[putting-on his GE CEO’s hat]: “You know, Todd, with the next presidential election a coint-toss, and a Democrat-controlled Congress, we’re looking at the possibility that we won’t be allowed to sell any more incandescent lamps in the U.S. in less than ten years. Let’s build some more plants.”
You're quite right, though there's more. Throw in a dose of OSHA, stir in some racial quotas, add a pinch of big, inflexible labor, and cook the ingredients in an over-regulated, micromanaged, government-mandated political oven.
The result? America regulates itself out of business again.
“Of course, we know that billion-dollar international corporations never, ever look at what’s coming out of DC until it slaps them in the head. /s”
As per your usual, you’re putting forth contentions not in the article that’s the subject of the thread, and IGNORING the very specific reasons the billion-dollar, international corporation in question gave for THEIR DECISION, IGNORING the reasons GE gave for closing THEIR plants.
GE doesn’t know why they’re closing those plants. Only rudeboy knows for sure, lol.
Time to pay closer attention to the football games.
you keep giving answers to things I’ve never said.
There are no regulations making incandescent bulbs illegal.
LOL!
Here’s another one who knows more about why GE makes decisions than GE itself knows, LOL.
And where are incandescent bulbs illegal in the US now, in other nations? Keep in mind, if possible, that the 10% drop in sales has ALREADY been experienced by GE.
Oh, GE knows all right. And a large part of the reason why I know they know is because I am a political conservative (that, ahem, actually follows politics) and you are not.
Now you’re looking for a list of nations that have already announced they’re phasing-out incandescents?
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