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 The environmentalists on the political left (the people who brought you 1.6 gallon toilets) have recently succeeded in getting ordinary light bulbs banned in the United States. The federal ban on incandescent bulbs is a clear violation of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but unfortunately there are few people in Washington (or anywhere else) who give that technicality a second thought. The energy bill that will phase out incandescent bulbs was proudly signed into law by President Bush, whose action is exactly what one might have expected from President Al Gore or President John Kerry. The lack of contrast between the two parties is discussed extensively on another page. The articles listed below (and many more to be added later) set forth clear arguments against the use of Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, or CFLs, for a number of very practical reasons, both technical and political. The big political push toward their mandatory adoption is based on the belief that the bulbs use less electricity to provide the same light output. But the environmentalists are the very people standing in the way of new refineries, coal-fired power plants, and nuclear power plants. In fact, there is no practical source of electricity that the environmentalists do not oppose. They claim that they want America to achieve energy independence, but they oppose drilling for oil in Alaska. Conservation is good, but increasing the supply of electric power is even better. Fluorescent lighting advocates claim that electricity consumption will be reduced overnight when people switch to fluorescent lamps; however, with that in mind, people will naturally be more inclined to leave their lights on a lot more, since the new bulbs are so efficient. That offsets the energy savings considerably. "Wasted" energy is not wasted Proponents of fluorescent lights are quick to point out that incandescent bulbs waste 90 percent of their input power as heat. CFLs are not 100% efficient, either, but somehow that is never mentioned. (Of course the light from a light bulb also turns into heat when it hits the walls and the floor, bringing the "wasted power" total to 100 percent, unless some of the light goes out the window, but I digress.) A hair dryer uses a lot more power than a light bulb. Some consume 1800 watts, and 100% of that power is "wasted" as heat. Sometimes heat is a beneficial byproduct. Here's the way I look at it: In the winter, that "wasted" power contributes to the heat in the house, which makes the heater run less. I have an all-electric house, and I figure it costs nothing to run a hair dryer or a computer or an electric blanket in the winter, because all those things are supplementing the output of my central electric heater. Exaggerated life expectancy  I can tell you from my own experience that "9 year" CFLs don't last nine years. A more accurate figure would be nine months. Notice that the packaging says they will last 10,000 hours. Simple arithmetic tells us that's only a little more than one year of continuous use. (Since the life of a CFL is shortened by turning it on and off, continuous use results in the longest life.) Incandescent bulbs have been known to operate for decades: The world record is over 100 years. If your CFL dies prematurely, the manufacturer will blame you for its failure. (Must be something wrong with your wiring. You must have turned it on and off too much.) Even if the bulb is under warranty, and you send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement, you will spend more on shipping than the price of a new bulb. Those shipping costs come out of your pocket, and they offset any "energy savings" you might have realized. Grab your calculator How much are you really saving? Ordinary incandescent bulbs cost less than 19¢ apiece. When coupled with the fact that CFLs don't last very long, it's easy to see that your "energy saving" amounts to approximately zero when you switch to fluorescent bulbs. Equivalent light output? CFLs are marketed with a number of half-baked promises. The packaging may tell you, for example, that a CFL bulb that uses 23 watts and has the light output "equivalent" of a 100-watt bulb. On the contrary, the light is not "equivalent" by any means. Fluorescent bulbs emit a cold, harsh and unnatural glow, along with an audible hum and a small amount of ultraviolet light. They don't work in cold weather, and some of them take two or three minutes to reach full brightness. Most of all, they are far more expensive than incandescent bulbs, and the alleged savings are never realized because the bulbs do not last as long as the manufacturers claim. So yes, except for about a dozen drawbacks, fluorescent lights are fine, and if the price of electricity triples, or if I'm forced to run on generator power, or if I want my home to look like a warehouse, I'll buy more of them. The fruits of environmentalism The CFL mandate is so irritating to me because the so-called "Energy Independence and Security Act" was passed in a futile effort to slow down global warming and reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (as you can read on another nearby page) is a nutrient, not a pollutant, and many rational people believe the global warming scare is just an elaborate hoax and a passing fad. Isn't it a little odd that the environmentalists who are so gung-ho about CFLs are the same people who are so greatly concerned about mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants? CFLs contain mercury. They are already going into landfills, and have been for years. Mercury isn't bio-degradable; it's just going to accumulate. Someday there may be special disposal facilities for CFLs, but it's safe to assume that about half of the bulbs will still go straight into the trash with the household garbage. The CFL mandate is also irritating because most of the pencil-pushing bureaucrats who came up with this law are living in enormous houses, each with a swimming pool, an irrigation system, a three-car garage, a jacuzzi and several huge TV sets, and these "limousine liberals" are the people who want the rest of us to save a few watts here and there, and a few gallons of water. Other alternatives If we must abandon the venerable incandescent bulb, a much better solution would be the use of super-bright LEDs. Light-emitting diodes are much more energy efficient than even fluorescent bulbs, and although they are more expensive at the moment, the price of bright LEDs is dropping much faster than the price of CFLs. There are few drop-in replacements for ordinary 120-volt bulbs at the moment, and prices are very high, because until now there has been no great demand for such a product. But there are a few sources out there... [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] If the federal bureaucrats wanted to save electricity, there are other ways to do it. They could start by revoking the licenses of about half of the radio and TV stations -- the half that nobody watches or listens to. A UHF-TV transmitter typically uses half a million watts of electricity, and many of them run 24 hours a day broadcasting infomercials. Until June, 2009, each TV station will have two (redundant) transmitters -- one analog and one digital -- providing channel after channel of meaningless pap, all day and all night. The FM and AM radio bands are also packed with stations but only a few of them are any good. You know I'm right. Bush Bans Light Bulbs, Gas Guzzling Cars. President Bush signed an energy bill on Wednesday that bans traditional incandescent light bulbs and requires automakers to produce more energy-efficient vehicles. The bill, titled the Energy Independence and Security Act, calls for higher fuel standards for cars and light trucks, mandates higher ethanol production and begins a phase out of incandescent light bulbs by 2012 because they burn too much energy. The End of the Light Bulb as We Know It. The incandescent light bulb, one of the most venerable inventions of its era but deemed too inefficient for our own, will be phased off the U.S. market beginning in 2012 under the new energy law just approved by Congress. Although this will reduce electricity costs and minimize new bulb purchases in every household in America, you may be feeling in the dark about the loss of your old, relatively reliable source of light. Crimes of Incandescence. It is fitting that the light bulb — in addition to illuminating homes, workplaces, and streets — has become a symbol of a bright idea. If we see one shining above a cartoon character's head, we immediately know that he or she has had a flash of inspiration. Nothing says "good thinking" quite like one of these little wonders of the modern world, which have helped to liberate mankind from the oppression of darkness. It is also fitting, then, that environmentalists have declared war on these symbols of sensibleness. Lights out for the bulb. Light bulb makers have revamped some plants, shuttered others and invested enormous sums of money in preparation for a technological shift that they believe will revolutionize the industry. Yet the fact that the incandescent bulb, which has remained largely unchanged for more than a century, is about to become obsolete is lost on the vast majority of the public. The phase-out of the iconic light bulb begins in three years as part of the energy bill signed in 2007. Incandescent stupidity: Washington outlaws 100-watt lightbulbs. You know the energy bill that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law today? Tucked into the legislation is a provision that mandates the phase-out of the 125-year-old incandescent bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of trendy, supposedly energy-efficient Gorebulbs. First, Australia. Then the EU. And now us. Dubious Ways to 'Save the Planet'. Last week The New York Times front page carried this headline: "The Bulb That Saved the Planet May Be a Little Less Than Billed." The story recounted some Americans' misadventures with the new light bulbs that almost all Americans — all but those who are filling their closets with supplies of today's incandescent bulbs — will have to use after the phaseout of today's bulbs in 2014. Energy-Saving Bulbs to Light Up the Future. Not everyone is singing the praises of the little bulbs that could. The German ecological product review "Oekotest" put 16 models through a rigorous set of tests and came to a sobering conclusion: Most energy saving light bulbs aren't as bright as they should be. According to the magazine, the light quality was poor, sometimes flickered and didn't last as long as manufacturers claimed. The lamps were also found to contain poisonous mercury. In the end, "Oekotest" said energy-saving lamps were hardly recommendable. The Latest Political Crusade: CFL Light Bulbs and Airline Safety. The latest political crusade is the crusade to replace ordinary light bulbs with the new CFL light bulb that is supposed to save electricity, reducing the need for fossil fuels and helping the fight against global warming. Since crusaders seldom stop to weigh the cost of what they are advocating, it is especially important that the rest of us do so before we get swept along by rhetoric and emotions. Customers buy up traditional light bulbs before switch to low energy alternatives. Shopkeepers say customers are "panic-buying" armfuls of the 100 watt bulbs, which are becoming increasingly scarce since many supermarkets agreed to phase them out ahead of the end-of-August deadline. The ban on sales is supported by the [British] government, which wants consumers to switch to low energy compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) to help meet its climate change targets. The Wishful Thinking of Greenie Dreams. CFL low-energy light bulbs are significantly more expensive to produce, and between 3 and 10 times as much to buy, as the standard tungsten-filament bulbs Harman wants scrapped. That is, if they work at all. In addition, CFLs need much more ventilation (top and bottom). ... Worst of all, low-energy bulbs are made using toxic materials. Chief among them is mercury, a substance that, ironically, the EU banned from its own landfill sites. For the EU nations, special recycling arrangements will have to be made to dispose of CFLs, incurring a further cost. Sheer lumenacy: EU to replace watts with continental 'lumens'. Lightbulbs are to lose their wattage markings, thanks to new European Union rules. It has decided to replace the energy measurement, named after 19th Century Scottish scientist James Watt, with wording revealing the power in 'lumens' — the amount of light a bulb gives out. The change will be introduced from September next year. Time to Laugh at Obama and Company. How many Americans does it take to screw in a light bulb? According to President-elect Barack Obama, 2.5 million. Obama has a new plan, he says, to save or create at least 2.5 million jobs. "We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs," Obama said. "That won't just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work." This is inherently hilarious. The president-elect of the United States actually believes that screwing in energy-efficient light bulbs will save or create millions of jobs. White House announces new lighting standards. Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put a plug in for administration efforts to make lamps and lighting equipment use less energy. Obama Reinvents The Lightbulb. There truly is nothing sacred to this administration. They believe they can do everything better (they aren't excluding much), and they'll take yet another American success story and screw with it. CFL's Are a Dim Idea. In December 2007 President Bush signed an energy bill that included a provision to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2014. For Al Gore and fellow environmentalists this was huge victory in their war on global warming and the greenhouse gases that they see as destroying our planet. But all is not well in enviro-bulb land according to an article in last Saturday's New York Times. Buyers are finding that the energy saving bulbs aren't living up to their claims and are leaving a lot of customers to wonder what went wrong. Are Fluorescents Really the Way to Go? The European Union began the process on Monday [12/8/2008] of moving away from the incandescent light bulb. But the energy-efficient alternatives may not be all they're cracked up to be. They contain harmful substances and disposal is difficult. Do New Bulbs Save Energy if They Don't Work? It sounds like such a simple thing to do: buy some new light bulbs, screw them in, save the planet. But a lot of people these days are finding the new compact fluorescent bulbs anything but simple. Consumers who are trying them say they sometimes fail to work, or wear out early. At best, people discover that using the bulbs requires learning a long list of dos and don'ts. Bachmann is pro-choice on bulbs. How many members of Congress does it take to change a light bulb? Americans may soon find out, courtesy of a contrarian piece of legislation introduced this month by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. … Bachmann, a first-term Republican, is challenging the nation's embrace of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights, saying the government has no business telling consumers what kind of light bulbs they can buy. The Light Bulb and the Road to Serfdom. Who are the "socialists of both parties" in America? Well, I say if the shoe fits, wear it! More importantly, who are the champions for freedom, and will they prevail? One freedom lover is Freshman U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) who filed the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" with the in-your-face audacity that inspires freedom lovers everywhere. Proposing "pro-choice" in lighting, Bachmann's bill calls for rolling back the incandescent light bulb ban contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Fluorescent lights are green, until they burn out. People like to complain about the new fluorescent light bulbs. The light isn't warm and friendly, the spiral bulbs don't fit their fixtures, and they don't last as long as claimed. But the biggest gripe I've heard is how hard it is to unload these bulbs, and that you have to pay for the privilege. Incandescent light bulbs are easy: buy, burn and toss. But not so with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). Looming Lightbulb Liability: The speeding freight train carrying toxic waste liability for makers, sellers and purchasers of compact fluorescent lightbulbs, or CFLs, was only faintly audible in the distance last spring when this column first warned of it. Now we're beginning to see that environmentalist-stoked train speed toward its victims, whom President Bush and Congress just finished tying to the tracks. Tyranny update: Last December, President Bush signed an energy bill that will ban the sale of Edison's incandescent bulb, starting with the 100-watt bulb in 2012 and ending with the 40-watt bulb by 2014. … There's less resistance if liberty is taken away a little bit at a time. Bush sees the light. It's taken more than a month, but small-government types are making a big fuss over an energy bill President Bush signed on Dec. 19 that effectively tells Americans what kind of light bulbs they are allowed to use -- not, apparently, incandescent ones. Starting in 2012, incandescents will be phased out, casualties of what critics say is a comfy win-win relationship between the environmental lobby, big business and big-government conservatives. In Defense of Incandescence: Let us now praise incandescence. Not just the word but the phenomenon, the warm radiance of glowing coals, the soft flare of tungsten filament fire. Let us praise it because its beauty is suddenly under siege. For certain grimly utilitarian environmentalists, aesthetic beauty is not an especially important environmental value. Beauty's glass slipper can't compete with the environmentalists' tiny carbon footprint. Green boondoggle: Greens loves CFLs because they use less energy than incandescent bulbs and last for years. OK, so they cause eye strain, and most can't be used with dimmer switches and the ones that can flicker annoyingly, and they've been known to short out and give off toxic fumes, and they're potential fire hazards, and they contain mercury. But overall, the greens say, CFLs are good soldiers in the war against global warming. And you don't want to be for global warming, do you? Low-energy light bulbs can cause rashes and swelling to sensitive skin, warn experts. The phasing out of traditional light bulbs could cause misery for thousands who have light-sensitive skin disorders, medical experts warned yesterday. Dr Robert Sarkany said some low-energy bulbs gave vulnerable people painful rashes and swelling. He backed calls by patient groups for the Government to give medical exemptions for those at risk. It's lights out for traditional light bulbs. Turn out the lights on traditional incandescent bulbs. A little-noticed provision of the energy bill, which is expected to become law, phases out the 125-year-old bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lights that will cost consumers more but return their investment in a few months. Bright Bulbs, Dim Wits. I recently bought my first energy-saving compact fluorescent bulb. ... The bulb, however, wasn't quite what I expected. When I first turned it on, it was pretty dim. I figured I'd bought a dud, until I realized that it needed a few minutes to warm up. Incandescent bulbs don't need to warm up. Bye Bye, Light Bulb. Why worry about making a product so good people feel they have to have it, when you can instead get the government to tell them they have no choice? … If Microsoft could get a law passed requiring users to upgrade Windows, they'd probably go for it, too. Same with Detroit — "Buy a hybrid, or else!" would probably suit them fine. But do remember this the next time a company goes to Washington to save the world: They'll end up doing it at your expense. To revel in the glow of choice is to court glare of the eco-correct. Oh, I wish I liked fluorescents — they bring your electricity bill down to $1.95 per year, you get to shake a fist at OPEC, and those curly pig-tail tubes look cool. But I detest the light. The bulb hoarders: The government wants your old-fashioned energy-hungry incandescent tungsten light bulb gone, and gone soon. But some people are willing to go to great lengths to hang onto the lights they love. Traditional lightbulbs banned by EU. The high energy filament bulbs are being phased out in order to improve energy efficiency and meet climate change targets. The switchover, which will affect all of the European Union's 500 million citizens, was first ordered at a Brussels summit last year as part of an ambitious energy policy to fight climate change. NYT Surprisingly Attacks Climate Friendly Light Bulb. There's potentially a larger issue here that these bulbs, and the lack of foresight regarding them, is emblematic of: capriciously concocted and implemented solutions often cause more problems than they solve. This is one of the cornerstones of anti-climate alarmism. In fact, the voices around the world begging governments not to overreact to the hysterical prognostications of folks like Gore do so in an attempt to prevent their nations from enacting policies that not only won't cure this mythical malady, but also might result in potentially more devastating and costly problems down the road. Does Turning Fluorescent Lights Off Use More Energy Than Leaving Them On? It's almost always beneficial to shut off fluorescents when leaving the room — the start-up energy is offset by the power saved in even the briefest outages. But what about the wear and tear on the bulb itself? Being too switch-happy reduces the operating life of the lamp, and given that newer fluorescents are still a few times more expensive than old-fashioned incandescents, it makes sense to forestall burnouts. There are also real environmental impacts of their production and disposal to consider. Looking at Fluorescent Bulbs in Different Light: It is not just customers who face risks. Undoubtedly many people will simply dispose of used compact fluorescent light bulbs in the trash. As John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North American, the group representing those who handle the trash, warned: "The problem with the bulbs is that they'll break before they get to the landfill. They'll break in containers, or they'll break in a dumpster or they'll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens." Warning: Vacate room when CFL bulb breaks. The warning comes a month before the British government begins its phase-out of tungsten bulbs, scheduled to be completed in 2011. The switchover to CFL bulbs will save at least five million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the government said. Health experts warned this week that people with certain skin ailments will suffer from the new eco-friendly bulbs which cause conditions such as eczema to flare up. Additionally, the bulbs have been linked to migraine headaches in some people. The Environment Agency's latest advice focuses on the 6 to 8 milligrams of toxic mercury in each bulb. Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break. Compact fluorescent lamps — those spiral, energy-efficient bulbs popular as a device to combat global warming — can pose a small risk of mercury poisoning to infants, young children, and pregnant women if they break, two reports concluded yesterday [2/25/2008]. … For the Maine study, researchers shattered 65 compact fluorescents to test air quality and cleanup methods. Fluorescent vs. incandescent? Environmentalists can't decide. Al Gore says switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents can help save the planet from global warming. California, Canada and the European Union are so persuaded he's right, the three governments are in the process of banning the sale of incandescent light bulbs, following the trailblazing paths of Fidel Castro in Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Chavez giving low-income Houstonians light bulbs. Free light bulbs for low-income residents aren't unusual in these days of high electric bills in Texas. Free light bulbs courtesy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are another story. Citgo Petroleum, the Houston-based refiner owned by the Venezuelan government, will distribute 460,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs to consumers in 11 U.S. cities in the coming months. Congress bans incandescent bulbs. In addition to raising auto fuel efficiency standards 40 percent, an energy bill passed by Congress yesterday bans the incandescent light bulb by 2014. President Bush signed the 822-page measure into law today after it was sent up Pennsylvania Avenue in a Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle. The House passed the bill by a 314-100 vote after approval by the Senate last week. The Myth of Compact Florescent Light Bulb Headaches. Modern, electronically ballasted CFLs refresh themselves at between 10,000 and 40,000 cycles per second, rates too fast for the human eye or brain to detect. … But Magda Havas, an Environmental & Resource Studies Ph.D. at Canada's Trent University, says that some CFLs emit radio frequency radiation that can cause fatigue, dizziness, ringing in the ears, eyestrain, even migraines. Light-bulb ban craze exceeds disposal plans. While CFLs arguably use less energy and last longer than incandescents, there is one serious environmental drawback -- the presence of small amounts of highly toxic mercury in each and every bulb. This poses problems for consumers when breakage occurs and for disposal when bulbs eventually do burn out. Most consumers, even those already using the CFLs, do not realize the long-term dangers the bulbs pose to the environment and the health of human beings. Shining a light on hazards of fluorescent bulbs: When fluorescent bulbs first hit store shelves several years ago, consumers complained about the loud noise they made, their harsh light, their bluish color, their clunky shape and the long time it took for them to warm up. Since then, the bulbs — known as CFLs — have been revamped, and strict government guidelines have alleviated most of those problems. But while the bulbs are extremely energy-efficient, one problem hasn't gone away: All CFLs contain mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause kidney and brain damage. The Editor says... Was it "strict government guidelines" that made the manufacturers improve the product, or the fact that nobody would buy expensive bulbs with all those drawbacks? Consumers in dark over risks of new light bulbs. There is no problem disposing of incandescents when their life is over. You can throw them in the trash can and they won't hurt the garbage collector. They won't leech deadly compounds into the air or water. They won't kill people working in the landfills. The same cannot be said about the mercury-containing CFLs. They bear disposal warnings on the packaging. Not a bright idea. I've been working in the political realm for decades now. And every time some politician or activist cooks up a new cause, a new regulation or tax, I wonder if anything could be more absurd than this. Now I have to wonder again. This is a truly stupid idea. A Lightbulb Tea Party? Another kick-in-the-teeth to consumers is the new mandate to phase-out incandescent lightbulbs in favor of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). The 100-watt incandescent light bulb will be the first to go in 2012. It's bad enough that the federal government wants to dictate what sort of lighting we can have in our own homes, but it expects us to pay up for mercury-containing CFLs (up to $5 for a CFL vs. $0.75 for a standard incandescent bulb) which are inferior in quality and function, and which require special handling and disposal procedures. CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury. The Environmental Protection Agency and some large business, including Wal-Mart, are aggressively promoting the sale of compact fluorescent light bulbs as a way to save energy and fight global warming. They want Americans to buy many millions of them over the coming years. But the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government haven't come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them. Better bulbs are a bright idea — mandate is not. Not every good idea needs to become a government mandate … and it's irksome to see lawmakers interfere in mundane consumer choices. With new technologies offering more and better choices to bulb buyers, they don't need Congress' opinion about what to put in the shopping cart. Mercury in Energy-Saving Bulbs Worries Scientists. Mercury is poisonous, but it's also a necessary part of most compact fluorescent bulbs, the kind that environmentalists and some governments are pushing as a way to cut energy use. With an estimated 150 million CFLs sold in the United States in 2006 and with Wal-Mart alone hoping to sell 100 million this year, some scientists and environmentalists are worried that most are ending up in garbage dumps. The Candle Mandate. [Scroll down] Reading with these CFLS can be hard. Maybe you'll need two or three instead of one when you sit down with your newspaper. They cost maybe five times more than what your light bulb today costs. They are going to be too big for a lot of your lamps and chandeliers, meaning you'll have to scoot to the store for new ones. A biggie is that they contain mercury, which is poisonous. … Even if you never break a CFL, you're not allowed to just throw used ones away with your trash. Because of the mercury, you will have to dispose of them in some special way. Nuclear energy: Power play. Maryland's Allegheny Energy recently mailed two compact fluorescent light bulbs to each of its customers. Imagine the indignation when those customers noticed a $12 charge for the unsolicited mailing. Despite promises that the bulbs would save money, help the environment and prevent blackouts, Allegheny's customers were peeved. Please Don't Mandate Compact Flourescent Lamps! There are a number of reports of fires caused by CFLs near the end of their life. Consumers have been advised to discard CFLs if they notice browning at the base of the bulb. However, this reduced the useful life of the bulb (therefore increasing the cost) and most consumers will not inspect bulbs that are operating normally. CFLs produce ultraviolet light, which is converted to visible light by a phosphor coating. Some ultraviolet light is released from the bulb, but little information is being made available about the amount of UV light released by a CFL. CFLs produce less light as they age. CFLs are not well-suited for use in areas where they are turned on and off frequently. Light bulbs spark safety fears. The safety of energy-saving light bulbs is under review over concerns the low-cost green alternative may emit potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation. Health Canada launched the study in December to test compact fluorescent bulbs to see if they emit ultraviolet radiation. The energy-saving light bulbs that could leave you red-faced... from UV radiation. They are being foisted on us as a way of saving energy. But it seems some eco-friendly light bulbs may not be as good for us as we thought. According to Government scientists, many of the bulbs emit more than the guideline rate of harmful ultraviolet radiation. CFL Light Bulbs In Texas — Not The Brightest Idea? Some of the mercury emitted from landfills — in the form of vaporous methyl-mercury — can get into the food chain more readily than inorganic elemental mercury released directly from a broken bulb or even coal-fired power plants, according to government scientist Steve Lindberg. "Disposal of any mercury-contaminated material in landfills is absolutely alarming to me," said Lindberg, emeritus fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A bunch of dim bulbs in Washington. A great many unkind things have been said about our current Congress — many of them merited. But nothing this august body has done this session has more exemplified its meddling ineptitude than its decision to phase out incandescent light bulbs, of all things, beginning in 2012. … One thing is clear: When light bulbs are outlawed, only outlaws will have light bulbs. GE Promises New Incandescents Will Rival Energy Efficiency of Those Trendy CFLs. GE is working to improve the incandescent light bulb in ways that GE says "potentially will elevate the energy efficiency of this 125-year-old technology to levels comparable to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), delivering significant environmental benefits." … GE calls the bulbs "high efficiency incandescent" or HEI, and says it would replace traditional 40- to 100-watt household incandescent light bulbs, the most popular lamp type used by consumers today. The View from the Island: In a mere few years, you will no longer be able to decide for yourself what type of lighting you wish to enjoy in your own home; the Government has made that decision for you. Do you like the warmth and intimacy of the golden hue of a SoftGlow bulb in your living room? Tough! Do you find fluorescent light to be flat and harsh? Tough! Does the sub-perceptual "flickering" give you headaches? Tough! Does the high price of CFLs strike you as being a waste of your hard-earned money? Tough again! Man's fear over light bulb change. A man who claims low energy light bulbs leave his eyes severely irritated is worried about phasing out older bulbs. Adrian Nielsen, 63, from Swansea, says his eyes became bloodshot, watery and uncomfortable after fitting energy-efficient bulbs throughout his home. He fears other people could have similar problems. Labour peer set to make a fortune out of eco-bulbs. A former Labour Cabinet Minister is expecting to make a fortune from the Government's controversial decision to phase out traditional light bulbs and replace them with a low-energy version. Lord Barnett, who was Treasury Chief Secretary in the Seventies and later vice-chairman of the BBC, is a major investor in a company that stands to reap massive profits as the new-style bulbs are recycled. Say 'Bye Bye' to the Edison Light Bulb. Congress just loves to micromanage our lives. Now they are determining the kinds of light bulbs we should use. One of the provisions in the energy bill that taxpayers are starting to read about is the mandate that bans the incandescent bulb by 2012.
Research has shown that Thomas Edison once undertook and then abandoned work on Compact Fluorescent bulbs more than a century ago. The nasty little surprise hidden in the new energy bill: On December 19, President Bush signed an energy bill that will, among many, many other things, force you to buy a new kind of light bulb. He did this because environmental enthusiasts don't like the light bulbs you're using now. He and they reason, therefore, that you shouldn't be allowed to have them. So now you can't. Somewhere, Mr. Edison Gently Weeps. [Scroll down] But for those bugged by nitpicking flexings of government muscle, the most irritating provision [of the energy bill] may well be the bill's banning of incandescent bulbs. The bulbs aren't banned outright. Rather, beginning in 2012 a set of increasingly stringent lumen-per-watt standards will eliminate conventional incandescents. 100-watters will be the first to go. In their place we'll have to use compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or other new-fangled lights. No Toilets Left Behind: A bill that should have been flushed. There shouldn't be any mystery why these laws fail. They all involve Congress trying to force the public into using something the marketplace has rejected. If newfangled toilets or increased ethanol usage actually made sense, they would catch on without heavy-handed government mandates. Ditto the required modifications to appliances. More often than not, this kind of government interference with the free market works to the detriment of consumers. Washington may think it is passing energy bills, but all it's really doing is proving the law of unintended consequences. Congress Conjures Up an Energy Deficit. Does the new "energy bill" permit for drilling and extraction of the millions, perhaps billions, of barrels of oil in Alaska's ANWR? No. Does the new bill encourage the exploration for oil and natural gas off the nation's continental shelf on our vast east and west coasts? No. Did it give the oil companies any tax breaks to build the billion-dollar refineries the nation needs? No. Did it encourage the building of nuclear plants? No. Greenhouse Affect: The ink is still moist on Capitol Hill's latest energy bill and, as if on cue, a scientific avalanche is demolishing its assumptions. To wit, trendy climate-change policies like ethanol and other biofuels are actually worse for the environment than fossil fuels. Then again, Washington's energy neuroses are more political than practical, so it's easy for the Solons and greens to ignore what would usually be called evidence. Energy-saving light bulbs blamed for migraines. The energy-saving light bulbs that will be made compulsory in homes in a few years can trigger migraines, campaigners have claimed. The Migraine Action Association (MAA) said some of its members alleged the fluorescent bulbs had led to attacks of the powerful headaches. By 2011, Britain will be the first European country to phase out traditional bulbs as part of a strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Environmentally friendly light bulbs 'can damage your skin', doctors warn. New energy-saving bulbs produce a more intense light which can cause eruptions of existing skin problems, like eczema, and even lead to skin cancer, they claim. The revelation comes after health experts warned the fluorescent bulbs, which are to become compulsory in homes within four years, could trigger migraines and cause dizziness and discomfort to people with epilepsy. The Dangers of Those Energy-Saving Light Bulbs: It's listed as the top thing you can do by Al Gore's Web site on climate change to reduce your carbon impact at home — replacing a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). But Gore doesn't warn you about what could happen if you improperly dispose of them or even accidentally break one. Warning About Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs. The EPA, the government's own environment watchdog agency, is stepping up a campaign about saving energy safely. That's because the energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, contain mercury — a small amount. Here's what you have to do if you break one of these new bulbs. First, open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes. … The Editor says... There goes all the energy you saved — out the window! In addition, turning a CFL on and off frequently shortens its life, which is why the government's Energy Star program suggests you leave them on for at least 15 minutes at a time.* Of course, if you only needed the light on for a minute, there goes the environmental benefit down the drain. And sure, CFLs contain mercury, but you can drive across town to the Ikea store to have them recycled. Of course, if you have to travel across the county to get to the Ikea store, that's a lot of driving, and away goes the environmental benefit again. Australia pulls plug on old bulbs. Australia has announced plans to ban incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. The environment minister said the move could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tonnes by 2012. "It's a little thing but it's a massive change," Malcolm Turnbull said. The decision will make Australia the first country to ban the light bulbs, although the idea has also been proposed in the US state of California. Subsidy for bulbs 'wasted'. The flawed scheme to cut greenhouse gas abatements by giving away lightbulbs has squandered an estimated $60 million of NSW taxpayers' money, the State Opposition says. ... It was claimed initially that as many as 80 percent of the lightbulbs given away were installed. But later surveys found most households never installed them, and that only four out of 10 of the lightbulbs were ever used. As a result, the Government has significantly overstated the greenhouse gas emissions saved under the abatement scheme. New Zealand switches off old light bulbs. New Zealand has decided to disconnect the traditional light bulb from its power socket. Starting 2009, the New Zealand government has decided to ban traditional light bulbs, in favour of energy-saving alternatives, according to a statement by New Zealand's energy minister David Parker. New Zealand bans bulbs. New Zealand will ban traditional light bulb sales from October 2009 to cut greenhouse gas emissions and save up to half a billion dollars in energy costs over 12 years, the government said Tuesday [6/17/2008]. Light Bulbs, Gas Changing as U.S. Energy Bill Passes. The light bulbs in almost every U.S. home and the gasoline in many cars will be altered by energy legislation that the U.S. House of Representatives passed today. President George W. Bush plans to sign the bill tomorrow. The measure, approved 314-100, slashes U.S. energy use 8 percent by 2030, environmentalists say. It contains the first new vehicle fuel economy law in 32 years and mandates a fourfold increase in the use of biofuels. The bill, already approved by the Senate, phases out incandescent light bulbs, which have been in use for a century, and places the first limits on the amount of water used in new washing machines and dishwashers. Reid: Banning Incandescent Bulb Appropriate Federal Act. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) told Cybercast News Service yesterday [12/19/2007] that a provision in the new energy law that will effectively ban the use of the incandescent light bulb in the United States by 2020 was an appropriate exercise of federal power. Energy law pulls plug on Edison's light bulb. The light bulb Thomas Edison invented 125 years ago is getting more than a make-over. The government is pulling the plug on it. The landmark energy bill President George W. Bush signed into law on Wednesday [12/19/2007] will require lighting to use up to 30 percent less energy, which will basically phase out the traditional light bulb because it won't be able to meet the new efficiency standards. USA Today Reporter ignores environmental and financial downsides of high-tech light bulbs. The light bulb provision phases out traditional bulbs by gradually increasing efficiency requirements through 2020. Conveniently for manufacturers like Philips, which has been pushing for legislation that would phase out incandescent bulbs (and level the playing field among competitors while giving Philips the public relations credit), the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) already meet the 2020 requirement. The Light Bulb Over Hillary's Head: If Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb is the perfect symbol of how an entrepreneur can exploit American freedom to create a product that changes the world, then Sen. Hillary Clinton's plan to rid this nation of incandescent bulbs may be the perfect symbol of how Americans can lose their freedom to a government bent on changing the world. Yes, Mrs. Clinton has it in for incandescent light bulbs. ... The statist transformation Mrs. Clinton envisions would not only abolish Mr. Edison's light bulb, but put out the light of freedom by which such inventions are made. Stock up on light bulbs now. You hear that argument all over — that mandating the bulbs will really be good for customers because it'll save them money and time and, for all we know, lumps in the gravy. Why, they're miracles, if only you slobs knew what was good for you, which is why they must be mandated, because you're too dim to recognize why a $4 bulb with weird light quality is better for you than a 50-cent bulb with normal, bright light. In short, you can't figure out what's in your own interest. Light Bulb Lunacy. How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About $4.28 for the bulb and labor — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about $2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health. Costly savings. In response to the urging that we all replace our incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs — and thus save the planet — I have in recent months been changing from incandescent to fluorescent bulbs. My experiences have not been what I expected. So far, after only months (in one case weeks), four of the CFL bulbs have burned out. I e-mailed the manufacturer and got a response admonishing me that, among other things, my wiring might be the cause of the premature failure. I had no problem with the wiring previously. The Battle of the Bulb: Compact fluorescent bulbs may use fewer kilowatts, thus using less electricity, but that doesn't necessarily make them the most environmentally friendly choice. Right now, CFLs are not manufactured in the US, but in China, where environmental manufacturing policies would make Greenpeace activists choke. ... Banning the incandescent light bulb is simply the latest in a long list of ways for big government advocates for regulating the minutiae of your everyday living. The Three Amigos of Climate Change. Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Malcolm Turnbull have all championed the idea of banning incandescent light bulbs in favour of fluorescent ones. ... But at least the communists gave fluorescent bulbs away for free. ... In Cuba, Castro has enforced his light bulb giveaway by using thousands of students, euphemistically called "social workers", to enter people's homes, whether they like it or not, and change the bulbs. At the same time, they take an inventory of electrical appliances in the home. NBC Promotes Toxic Chinese Light Bulbs. The Alliance for Climate Protection, which is part of Al Gore's Live Earth campaign, tells people that by using compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, they can save energy, save money and live longer. But they fail to mention that the bulbs are made in communist China and are potentially hazardous to human health. Somebody should turn the lights on. Behind global warming guru Al Gore is global warming guru mastermind Maurice Strong. … The latest ambition of this deadly duo is to ban the incandescent light bulb worldwide … Problem is Gore and his shadow don't intend to stop with banning the incandescent light bulb. … Gore's shadow Strong is a self-professed depopulationist. How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb? [Australian] Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull is announcing today [2/20/2007] that conventional, incandescent light bulbs are to be phased out over the next three years and replaced with energy-saving globes. [This is followed by a list of known issues with Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.] Compact Fluoro Lights. In a sad world first, the Australian government has decided to burnish its Green credentials by banning ordinary light globes. In three years time, Australians will be able to buy compact fluorescents only. The idea is that the fluoros use electricity more efficiently. That much is true. But the drawbacks of the fluoros are many. Fluorescent lighting is an incandescent issue. In California, an estimated 73 million incandescent light bulbs and 6 million compact fluorescents are sold each year, the state Energy Commission said. Slightly more than half of California homes had at least one compact fluorescent bulb in 2005. The average house has 40 bulbs, with about 10 percent of those being compact fluorescents. Fluorescent Bulbs Must Be Disposed Of Properly. While experts agree compact fluorescents are safe to use, and the EPA even recommends them over traditional bulbs, the bulbs contain about 5 milligrams of the heavy metal -- roughly equivalent to the tip of a ball point pen. Last February, California state legislators concerned about soil and groundwater contamination passed a law requiring mandatory recycling of all fluorescent bulbs. That means you can no longer just throw them away when they burn out or break. Bill to Ban Regular Light Bulbs Introduced in House. A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of traditional incandescent light bulbs — which are less energy-efficient, prompting claims that they contribute to "global warming" — one day after a colleague told a press conference that legislating a ban would be a "last choice." The Federal Light Bulb Police Squad Has Been Established. Apparently the dim bulbs in Congress (2 watts, max) are upset at being so easily shown up so they have decided to outlaw the competition. Ban the Bulb? CFL lightbulbs have been around for well over a decade. Only recently have they come in enough varieties and flavors to capture about 10% of the available sockets. But they are still at least 5 times more expensive than regular incandescents, which if replaced in their entirety would cost consumers an extra $4 to 5 billion at the cash register. … And guess where the extra purchase prices for these CFLs will wind up? In the pockets of Chinese manufacturers, because not a single CFL is produced in the US. Elsewhere in the energy bill... Were We Asleep? We've committed ourselves to a specific volume of liquid fuels that automobiles might not even need 15 years from now, and with a financing deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars. This approach is wrong in every imaginable way. Wal-Mart Puts Some Muscle Behind Power-Sipping Bulbs. As a way to cut energy use, it could not be simpler. Unscrew a light bulb that uses a lot of electricity and replace it with one that uses much less. While it sounds like a promising idea, it turns out that the long-lasting, swirl-shaped light bulbs known as compact fluorescent lamps are to the nation's energy problem what vegetables are to its obesity epidemic: a near perfect answer, if only Americans could be persuaded to swallow them. Wal-Mart's move is not about light bulbs. It is all about public relations: Shining the Light on Wal-Mart's Corporate Social Responsibility Blind Spot. Wal-Mart's emphasis on fluorescent lighting illuminates a much deeper problem. First, it illustrates the company doesn't understand the nature of its battle or the motivation of its adversaries. For the Left and its socialism leanings, Wal-Mart is a symbol of capitalism and free enterprise. This represents a mortal threat to labor unions and aspiring liberal politicians who value economic equality through wealth redistribution. Leftists criticize Wal-Mart for lots of other reasons as well. Philips Lighting CEO Says Industry at "Tipping Point" on Energy-Saving Bulbs. European light bulb makers are close to an agreement in principle to work together on phasing out energy-wasting incandescent bulbs for the consumer market, the chief executive of Royal Philips Electronics NV's lighting division said Monday. Green Light Districts: So the environmentalists have decided that light bulbs are the latest indicator of civilizational decline. Compared to "sustainable" sources, conventional incandescent lighting uses too much electricity, and hence is responsible for emitting greenhouse gases and global warming. The only solution is for government to ban incorrect bulbs. Fluorescent lights giving pupils headaches. Children are increasingly being put at risk of headaches because of the amount of fluorescent lighting in schools, researchers claim. Eight in 10 classrooms in England are fitted with excessively bright and flickering lights which have been linked to eye strain and loss of concentration, a Cambridge University study says today. It claims the problem has been exacerbated by the use of computerised whiteboards and poor classroom design. Energy-saving lightbulbs branded a health hazard. New energy-efficient lightbulbs could pose a threat to the elderly and to people with less-than-perfect eyesight, it was claimed yesterday [10/8/2007]. The Labour peer Baroness Hollis of Heigham told the House of Lords the bulbs took much longer than standard ones to light up fully and were potentially dangerous on stairs and landings. Go 20 Years Without Changing a Light Bulb. LEDs, while more pricey than compact fluorescent lights, are growing in popularity, in part because advanced semiconductor technology has made them much brighter than in the past and because they are viewed by some as greener than other lighting on the market. [You could theoretically build your own LED lights, if you have some experience with electronic construction, but you'd have to be motivated by more than frugality. More information about individual super-bright LEDS for the do-it-yourself experimenter can be found here.] CFLs are just an intermediate step between incandescent bulbs and LED fixtures. Green Promise Seen in Switch to LED Lighting. LED lighting was once relegated to basketball scoreboards, cellphone consoles, traffic lights and colored Christmas lights. But as a result of rapid developments in the technology, it is now poised to become common on streets and in buildings, as well as in homes and offices. Some American cities, including Ann Arbor, Mich., and Raleigh, N.C., are using the lights to illuminate streets and parking garages, and dozens more are exploring the technology. New Laser Treatment Could Make Incandescent Bulbs as Efficient as Fluorescent. Thanks to a bit of ingenuity, Chunlei Guo, associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester, and his assistant Anatoliy Vorobyev have been able to squeeze out fluorescent-like energy performance from an incandescent light bulb. The breakthrough boils down to a laser treatment of the bulb's tungsten filament, a processing step which could one day become a standard in the light bulb industry.  In conclusion... When you buy compact fluorescent light bulbs, you are importing mercury and exporting jobs to China. If CFLs are so great, why do they have to be mandated by the federal government? Why not let the consumer decide what he or she wants? Consumers have clearly demonstrated already that CFLs are not what they want. The incandescent bulb is being phased out because it is considered inefficient. Isn't ironic that our overgrown federal government is setting standards for efficiency? More supposedly good ideas that may not be good at all. More about the government nannies. Back to the home page. | ||||
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Document location http://www.akdart.com/cfl.html Updated July 2, 2009. Page design by Andrew K. Dart ©2009 |