On 'Energy Efficient' Light-Bulbs

Or ... About those "Mercury Vapor Bombs"

Michael A. Walsh in the New York Post: Gray Dawn: Green Bulbs, Black Hole --

On New Year’s Day, in addition to a hangover, America will wake up in the pale winter light to one grim consequence of the Bush administration’s never-requited desire to be loved by the left: the traditional 100-watt light bulb will be banned for sale in the United States.

At the height of the panic over “man-caused global warming” (one of history’s greatest frauds), lawmakers felt compelled to be seen to do something, and Edison’s bright bulb made a handy fall guy.

...

Even with all the evidence to prove that the 2007 stampede was a mistake, those “radical” House Republicans couldn’t muster a majority for their July attempt to reverse the ban. So the standard incandescent 100-watt bulb - like booze during Prohibition - will disappear from store shelves come the first of the year, to be followed in turn by lower wattages until the lowly 40-watt bulb goes the way of the dodo in 2014.

The mercury-filled CFL bulbs will still be available, and advanced halogen-incandescent bulbs that meet the new standards are already available. An executive at Philips, which is making the new bulbs, claims that the ban has “created more choice for consumers.”

More revenue for the manufacturers is more like it - the new incandescent bulbs will cost about a buck apiece more than the old ones.

As far as “choice” goes, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was more frank: “We are taking away a choice that continues to let people waste their own money.” This, from the guy who green-lighted the $535 million taxpayer loan guarantee to Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer, among other “green jobs” black holes.

For these luminaries, the only good choice is one that wastes other people’s money.

Beware when government officials are keen to be seen to do something -- the result will all but inevitably make things worse for Everyman ... while funneling funds from his pocket into the pockets of select constituents of those government officials. -- "For these luminaries, the only good choice is one that wastes other people’s money."

edit:
Also, isn't it odd -- we're supposed to freak out about *any* mercury used in industrial processes, which can be monitored and potentially improved, lest even a smidgen of mercury "escape" into "the environment"; yet the mercury-based CFL bulbs are to be used by the billions, in conditions in which their "safe" disposal cannot be ensured, nor even monitored. I wonder, is the next step a monthly "inspection" of all homes, so as to ensure compliance with "proper" (i.e. expensive, both in terms of money and of time-and-effort) disposal of CFL bulbs?

edit2:
House votes to block enforcement of light bulb rules -- but, until Congress overturns the particular law, that 'ban' hasn't gone actually away.