Thomas Edison's Iconic Light Bulb on the Way to Extinction
In September, the European Union banned the sale of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, with lawbreakers facing up to $70,000 in fines. Over the next few years, bans on lower-wattage bulbs kick in. In the United States, similar legislation comes into play in 2012. The idea is to kickstart the market for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), which use less energy than conventional incandescents. Although CFLs present any number of problems (even beyond a much higher initial cost), governments all over the globe are determined to make them the new standard.
Invented in its modern form by Thomas Edison in 1879, the light bulb became synonymous with a brilliant idea. Now, it seems, it's just one more symbol of a nanny state that increasingly dictates more choices in our public and private lives.
"Light bulbs vs. The Nanny State" is produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie. Approximately two minutes. Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions.
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As I commented before,
there are many reasons this ban is wrong
Efficiency is only one advantage a product can have, people may prefer lighting for other reasons, and be prepared to pay for it
Supposed savings don't hold up anyway
http://www.ceolas.net /#li13x
Notably the CFL power factor alone (as explained by US Dept of Energy in a link)
halves the supposed savings....
...even if there were any significant savings,
light bulb taxation gives government income on reduced bulb sales while reteining choice.
Finally, light bulbs don't give out any gases, power stations do, and their emissions can be dealt with in several ways -and relatively soon and efficiently - as explained on the site
About the unpublicised industrial politics behind the recent European ban:
http://ceolas.net /#li1ax
.
The incandescent light bulb is incredibly inefficient, expending a significant portion of its energy as heat. florescent bulbs are better, but by far the best are LED's.
Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb
Humphry Davy = First Light Bulb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphry_Davy
Frederick de Moleyns = First Incandescent Light Bulb
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/388296/Frederick-de-Moleyns
Just saying ....
I don't think changing to CFLs are going to solve our global energy , but I have no problem with promoting them through incentive mechanisms as long as they aren't draconian.