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A rider attached to the omnibus spending bill that will keep the government running through September 30 of next year contains language that would prevent the EPA from enforcing the ban on incandescent light bulbs. But this is only a short respite, as this Politico article explains: DOE's light bulb rules - authorized under a 2007 energy law authored signed by President George W. Bush - would start going into effect Jan. 1. The rider will prevent DOE from implementing the rules through Sept. 30. But Democrats said they could claim a "compromise" by adding language to the omnibus that...

Congressional negotiators struck a deal Thursday that overturns the new rules that were to have banned sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs beginning next year. That agreement is tucked inside the massive 1,200-page spending bill that funds the government through the rest of this fiscal year, and which both houses of Congress will vote on Friday. Mr. Obama is expected to sign the bill, which heads off a looming government shutdown. Congressional Republicans dropped almost all of the policy restrictions they tried to attach to the bill, but won inclusion of the light bulb provision, which prevents the Obama administration...

I don't know of any now... but here are my thoughts... Sometime between now and Jan 1 large chains and even local stores will DUMP THEIR INVENTORY possibly for PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR! So if you hear about good deals for 100 watters, please post away. I need to stock up on the clear ones...

Bow I know that sometime in the future, filament type light bulbs will stop being sold. Question: ALL filament type bulbs or just the ones used for lamps, etc? The reason I ask is that I have a number of fixtures in my house that use the little 25W or so vanity type clear light bulbs and I have never seen itty-bitty fluorescents that could go in those fixtures. So now I gotta start ripping things out and re-wiring stuff? Anyone know? Thanks!

RANSON, W.Va. (AP) — A reported exploding package and spray of white powder that sent emergency units rushing to a small-town post office turned out to be just the pop of a malfunctioning fluorescent light bulb, authorities said Friday

I watched Fox News on the treadmill this morning, and apparantly the House failed to vote down the "light bulb ban"...what is the truth here and how does this work? I read that it requires bulbs to use 27% less energy...does that mean incadescent bulbs will really be banned or can someone make such more efficient? This really pisses me off as it means there had to be a slew of Republicans who were pressured by Phillips, GE, whoever to go along with this at the expense of guess who? That's right, another hidden tax on us.

The light bulb is dead. The incandescent bulb which has pushed back the night since an American named Thomas Edison invented it, will soon be no more. It was killed, like the innovation it symbolizes, by the federal government. In one more demonstration of the we-know-better-than-you arrogance which has come to define Washington, the switch has been flipped on the light bulb’s last chance at life. In a vote earlier this week, 233 voted to keep the bulb and 193 voted to get rid of it, but in the new-math world of parliamentary procedure, the bulb still lost. Actually, the...

House democrats blocked the repeal of the light bulb ban. A majority of Americans oppose the government’s unpopular and unnecessary ban on incandescent bulbs and infringement on choice. On January 1 2012, 100 watt incandescent bulbs will become illegal, with lower wattages to follow. The democrats just voted to give jobs to China.

One of the most personally intrusive, regulation-happy green bills that ever passed through Congress, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 made the sale of most incandescent light bulbs virtually illegal by January 1st, 2012. The bill imposed arbitrary efficiency standards that the producers of traditional lightbulbs couldn't hope to meet, making their more expensive, less reliable Compact Flourescent Lightbulb (CFL) cousins the new standard. So, goodbye consumer choice, hello government oversight. Thankfully, the House is finally making moves to repeal this - at best, ill-thought-out; at worst, you-will-go-green-and-you-will-like-it - law. On Monday, expect to see a vote on...

With its traffic circles and tree-lined squares, America’s capital sometimes resembles a magical, otherworldly place. Maybe that’s why so many who govern here think they can wave their legislative wands and unleash beauty — free of costs and complications. Of course, reality rarely cooperates. Consider Washington’s still-unfolding ban on Thomas Alva Edison’s incandescent light bulb. What the Wizard of Menlo Park, N.J., required 10,000 experiments to perfect, Brooks Brothers socialist George W. Bush needed just one signature to make anathema. If the law is left unchallenged, Jan. 1, 2012, will bring stricter standards that Congress designed in 2007 to eliminate...

Lightbulb Rules Spark Political FightHowever, new legislation may not change what manufacturers are doing in creating more efficient bulbs that use halogen, LED or other new technology. By Rob Lever, Agence France-Presse June 27, 2011 With a January deadline looming on a U.S. law mandating energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs, some political forces don't want to turn out the lights. More than a dozen Republican lawmakers are backing efforts to repeal the 2007 law that requires bulbs to consume less energy. Meanwhile Texas has enacted a law that would exempt itself from the federal requirement, and other states are debating...

The Republican House is flinching on passing the simplest and most symbolic piece of legislation this term: repeal of the incandescent light bulb phase out. Amidst great fanfare and promises to restore limited government, the new majority is proving it isn't much different than the old majority. The incandescent phase out required under the so-called Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 starts with banning regular 100 watt light bulbs on Jan 1, 2012. 75 watters will be banned a year later. 60 watters fade in 2014. Some of us still cling to a quaint notion that federal legislation ought...

LIVERMORE, Calif - Livermore, Calif., is preparing the 110th birthday celebration of the nation's longest-burning light bulb. The 4-watt "Centennial Light," which hangs from the rafters of Livermore's Fire Station No. 6, will be feted this weekend with a film screening, live music, a balloon drop, book signings and a birthday cake expected to draw visitors from all around the world, the Walnut Creek Contra Costa Times reported Thursday. The festivities begin Friday with a screening of "Century of Light," a film about the eternal bulb. Manufactured by the Shelby Electric Co. of Ohio, the bulb was donated by Livermore...

LIVERMORE -- How many firefighters does it take to change the Livermore light bulb? None, because it never burns out! The riddle may be a bit tired, but the object of its affectionate punchline is not. For more than a century, the 4-watt "Centennial Light" -- believed to be the world's longest-burning bulb -- has hung from the modest rafters of Fire Station No. 6 in Livermore.

A new report says the Obama Admin.’s proposed 62 mpg (3.8 L/100 km) fuel-economy target for 2025 could kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, put a $55,000 sticker on an ordinary family car and deliver only minor savings to consumers. The study was produced by the Ann Arbor, MI-based Center for Automotive Research, which has been a darling of the White House in recent months.

How many FReepers does it take to change a light bulb? My apology if this has been done before.

WASHINGTON--America doesn't usually have shortages. Consumers as a rule can find what they want to buy at stores or online. But in 212, days, on January 1, 2012, Americans won't be able to buy 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, the kind Thomas Edison invented and the only kind many of us know-and prefer. That's because incandescent light bulbs are being phased out by wattage over a two-year period, starting January 2012. The 100-watt bulb will be the first to be outlawed, by act of Congress, followed by 75-watt bulbs in January 2013, and 60- and 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. So...

How disappointed will Republicans be to hear Barack Obama’s veto threat on bills moving through Congress to rein in the EPA?  Not very.  It isn’t the first time the White House has issued the threat, but with one of the bills coming from his own side of the aisle, it’s starting to sound more like a plea to keep from being put in that position: The Obama administration Wednesday repeated its threat to veto legislation that would curb its ability to regulate greenhouse gases. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said that the White House continues to oppose any efforts...

The brightest bulb in most homes for more than a century is fading toward darkness this year as California turns out the light on the century-old incandescent. Beginning Jan. 1, the state began phasing out certain energy-sucking bulbs, federal standards the rest of the country will enact next year. Manufacturers will no longer make the traditional 100-watt bulb and stores will eventually sell out of current supplies. Consumers will have to choose from more efficient bulbs that use no more than 72 watts, including halogen incandescents, compact fluorescents and light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs. "These standards will help cut our...

Those widely heralded compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) turn out to be a bit of dud in the real world. For years, we have seen traditional light bulbs vanishing from shelves of hardware stores and Home Depots across America.  They have been replaced by those screw-shaped things that bespeak the future -- a future of dull lights, money flowing overseas, Americans jobs being terminated, and promised energy savings going up in smoke. From the Wall Street Journal: California's utilities are spending $548 million over seven years to subsidize consumer purchases of compact fluorescent lamps. But the benefits are turning out...