Mercy that could be twisted around.

I would rather you brought then since your on the list

You know the energy bill that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the other day? 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 compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s). That’s right, soon you will have no choice but these terrible dim bulbs that need a few minutes to warm up before you can even see anything in the room.

First, Australia. Then the EU. And now us. Well-intended bulb-pushers said they weren’t supporting mandates. Just “voluntary adoption” of lighting alternatives. But the road to eco-meddling is always paved with “voluntary” intentions–along with threats to your children that if you don’t volunteer to buy environmentally correct lights, Santa and his reindeer will DIE! That according to the Seattle Mayor at a tree lighting ceremony in the downtown area. The Mayor used the event to preach the evils of global warming to the kids in attendance. He warned the children that if they don’t use energy-efficient light bulbs, Santa and the reindeer will perish amid melting icecaps. Can’t Christmas be Christmas without scaring the kids?

The light bulb provision phases out traditional bulbs by gradually increasing efficiency requirements through 2020. Conveniently for manufacturers like Philips, GE, et al, which have 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. Do you see where if you follow the money you can always find what the real agenda behind this stuff is?

Proponents of government intervention into the light bulb market argue the change will save consumers money – The claim is it will save $40 billion in energy and other costs in the next 22 years. But aside from mentioning that one drawback of CFLs – that their “yellowish tints” are annoying to some eyes – they fail to mention the major flaw of the new technology: mercury. Mercury, a toxic metal famously found in thermometers, helps create the increased efficiency of a CFL bulb. If the bulb breaks, the small amount of mercury can contaminate the area. I thought we had been focusing the last few years on keeping this stuff out of the environment and away from our children.

The Financial Post reported in April that a broken CFL bulb cost a Maine woman more than $2,000 to clean when the state Department of Environmental Protection referred her to a cleanup company. At $5 in energy savings per bulb per month, one broken bulb could eat up 33 years’ worth of savings!

The federal EPA doesn’t recommend professional cleanup for a broken bulb. It recommends you open a window, leave the room for 15 minutes, then put on some rubber gloves, scoop up the broken bits and seal them in a plastic bag, then put that bag in another plastic bag before throwing it out. Then wash your hands.

Even if the bulb doesn’t break, CFL users are supposed to dispose of used bulbs through state-run household hazardous waste programs, which aren’t nearly as simple or convenient as tossing a burnt bulb in the trash. Some states, like Maine, tell residents to hold hazardous materials in their homes until designated collection days. Many others, like Virginia, require participants to take the bulbs to waste disposal sites for special processing.

What happened to keeping government out of our bedroom? And our bathroom? And our utility closets?
In a little over a year -- January 2009 -- this major change will be introduced and will have a significant impact on domestic and industrial users, as well as lighting installers and manufacturers.

No guidelines or informative advice have been published regarding the changeover. Yet again, the long-suffering public will be left to shoulder the added cost. It will also have to endure the hassle of yet another quick and easy knee-jerk government measure aimed at cheap, "green" feel-good publicity rather than a carefully thought through measure.