Posted on 12/26/2013 4:33:05 AM PST by IbJensen
If your New Year’s resolution is to change your light bulbs, don’t worry—the federal government’s here to help.
Beginning January 1, 2014, the federal government will ban the use of 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent light bulbs. The light bulb has become a symbol in the fight for consumer freedom and against unnecessary governmental interference into the lives of the American people.
2007, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law an energy bill that placed stringent efficiency requirements on ordinary incandescent bulbs in an attempt to have them completely eliminated by 2014. The law phased out 100-watt and 75-watt incandescent bulbs last year.
Proponents of government-imposed efficiency standards and regulations will say, “So what? There are still plenty of lighting options on the shelves at Home Depot; we’re saving families money; and we’re reducing harmful climate change emissions.”
The “so what” is that the federal government is taking decisions out of the hands of families and businesses, destroying jobs, and restricting consumer choice in the market. We all have a wide variety of preferences regarding light bulbs. It is not the role of the federal government to override those preferences with what it believes is in our best interest.
Families understand how energy costs impact their lives and make decisions accordingly. Energy efficiency has improved dramatically over the past six decades—long before any national energy efficiency mandates.
If families and firms are not buying the most energy-efficient appliance or technology, it is not that they are acting irrationally; they simply have budget constraints or other preferences such as comfort, convenience, and product quality. A family may know that buying an energy-efficient product will save them money in the long term, but they have to prioritize their short-term expenses. Those families operating from paycheck to paycheck may want to opt for a cheaper light bulb and more food instead of a more expensive light bulb and less food.
Some may read this and think: Chill out—it’s just a light bulb. But it’s not just a light bulb. Take a look at the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program. Basically anything that uses electricity or water in your home or business is subject to an efficiency regulation.
When the market drives energy efficiency, it saves consumers money. The more the federal government takes away decisions that are better left to businesses and families, the worse off we’re going to be.
Yes, he signed the bill, but it was the newly elected democrat-majority House and Senate that created the legilation.
“Beginning January 1, 2014, the federal government will ban the use of 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent light bulbs.”
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I think you mean “ban the SALE”. There is little way that they can ban the use of your existing bulbs.
Anyone else have a lib in your life that is in denial about the incandescent light bulb ban?
I have one that keeps telling me that she can buy them at a local store. I also keep telling her to pick me up some 100’s & 60’s and I’ll pay her back.
Never does it, but never will admit that the government has banned incandescent light bulbs.
Two years ago, I went to Walmart and practically filled a shopping cart with 100, 75 and 60 watt incandescent bulbs - 88 cents for a 4-pack. I think I spent around $40 and got about 160 light bulbs. I'll never have to buy the mercury contaminated curly craps. (ps - at $8 per cfl, I wouldn't have been able to purchase five bulbs)
Why do you think they call him "kill"-o-watt
I'll bet 99% of the complaints are due to the curly configuration. All our lives, we had fluorescent in school, at work and in many public places. No one said boo. All of a sudden, people are throwing up, have headaches....etc etc
I have to admit that I have a CFL in the bathroom, and one in the kitchen, but ambiance is not important with either. I have incandescent in all other lamps and fixtures, and they will always be available here.
How are the LED lightbulbs?
“More proof Bush was not the brightest light bulb in the room.”
More proof that voting Republican is not the answer. A vote for the GOP may be the lesser of two evils but the two choices are still evil. Look at the behavior of McCain, Romney, and both Bush presidents. The country is literally going to hell and they are acquiescent to what is going on or actively supporting it.
A patriot would be speaking out against the tyranny.
I'm back to reading under 100 watt real light bulbs. Supply won't be a problem for at least a decade. <^..^> I get as much natural light in my house as possible. I'm back to my normal reading speeds and concentration. I can read all of the small print. I don't even try to read under flourescent lights or those silly squiggly things anymore.
Oops, socialist economic policies put forth by the Feds made domestic development of such an industry impossible. China says: "Thanks again, Mr. Bush!" :)
But where are the alternatives to the GOP? Nowhere!
excellent but expensive . CFL’s are bad
This illustrates an important point about leftism that everyone should be aware of. Control by totalitarian government cannot operate when there is an *abundance* of *anything*.
An essential tenet of Marxism is that government must control “the means of production.” But Marxists later realized that anything that exists in abundance can thwart their control by becoming an alternative form of currency.
Therefore, *everything* must be rationed. By them. And to do so, *everything* must be in shortage, real or imagined.
My first illustration of this was many years ago, in school, when posters were put up about “home water conservation”. On the surface it seemed a very mild thing indeed. But then I found an interesting statistic. In my state, mining, agriculture and industry used about 95% of the available fresh water. Residential use was only 5%. But this made no sense: why ask a tiny minority to shoulder all the burden?
Almost immediately afterward, the mining industry announced that to save money, it was going to recycle its water, instead of using all fresh. Overnight, this increased the available fresh water in the state by ONE THIRD.
I pointed this out to the “adults” running the residential home conservation program, and their response gave me a superb indicator of scoundrels in action.
“We must continue this home conservation program, to RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS.”
This was a valuable lesson about leftists. The approximate phrase of “raising public awareness” means that convincing people there is a shortage is more important to leftists than that there actually is a shortage.
The epilogue to this is that leftists were able to convince Washington, D.C. that because fresh water was in shortage, the government had to regulate the toilets in people’s homes. People no longer had control over their own toilets.
Finally, after years of gradually increasing their control over America’s fresh water, the EPA has made the “grand power grab” of taking control over all open water in our entire country. No matter who “technically” owns that water, the EPA controls it.
This shows how even their simple efforts at “raising public awareness” have some truly hideous ends. Always, *always* ending with vast government control over our lives.
And these efforts are happening in a broad front. Light bulbs, automobiles, appliances, the Internet, food, literally *everything*, they want under their control.
An example of how this ends up is to look at old East Germany. So obsessed was their government with totalitarian control, that even color and music was rationed, reserved “to honor the state”. So their people lived with horrible pollution, decaying infrastructure, and perpetual near starvation and deprivation, with only black, white and gray paint available, and the only color and music permitted was for the elites to honor themselves.
That, to leftists, is “paradise”. That is their goal.
Today, in the United States of America, they no longer want Americans to have bright, warm lights. With truly vast energy resources, why is that?
The article is wrong.
It does not make the bulb illegal, it makes the manufacture of the bulb illegal.
It is a really stupid law. Really really really stupid law.
Fantastic. Get the Cree 60w 2700k color for a few bucks at HD
Where’s the enviro weenies on these mercury filled pollutants?
Their heads are in their usual positions.
Have no clue as to how much this pisses us off?
Well said!
The only winners are the Chinese.
They make other items of importance: sexual drugs that cause a person to run around with an eight hour woodie.
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