Free Republic

Not all of us have time to get a degree in electrical engineering to make sure our home doesn’t look like the inside of an alien spaceship... Aren’t LED lights supposed to outlast the heat death of the universe or some unbelievably long amount of time? Under this guise and the guise of energy efficiency, the Biden administration finally allowed a 2007 ban on incandescent light bulbs to go through at the end of July this year. The problem is that LED lights are not more efficient in a meaningful economic sense, and, as my story illustrates, they don't necessarily...

In 2007, Congress passed new bulb standards requiring at least a 25% increase in efficiency for 100-watt bulbs by 2012 and smaller-wattage bulbs by 2014, leading to the replacement of incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) and halogen bulbs. Barton's bill, the Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) act, was introduced in September. He wants to nullify the standards, which he claims cost U.S. jobs and are a safety hazard. The BULB act was not taken seriously until it became a key part of the struggle between Barton and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), a sponsor of the standards, to...