Light bulb, RIP
This is old news by now, but I've been too lazy/busy/pissed off about to say anything yet. The Democratic congress passed legislation, which was duly signed by the Republican president, to ban the plain old ubiquitous American incandescent light bulb (presumably in favor of mercury vapor filled compact fluorescents.) Even more depressing, the ban was apparently passed with essentially no real debate on the matter. Did you hear anything about this before it passed? I didn't.
For fuck's sake, people. Is this really how few champions of limited government we have in Washington these days? In case you've wondered how a racist, anti-Semitic crackpot like Ron Paul can attract such a rock start following for his presidential campaign, wonder no longer.
Comments
How weird.
Posted by: K | January 15, 2008 09:46 AM
Well, they DO waste a lot of energy, which means lots of CO2 into the air, which contributes to our global warming issue.
The sadder thing is that it takes governmental interference to make manufacturers drop these antiques.
Posted by: Tracy Miller | January 15, 2008 11:15 AM
Too true, Barry.
This was done in darkness for a real purpose: to avoid having a real debate on the merits and shortcomings of the fluoerescents.
As one who sells them in my store, here are just a few drawbacks:
a) Take up to 2 minutes to reach full lumination.
b) Brightens to only about 90% of advertised wattage.
c) Must be recycled through your municipality because of mercury content.
d) If broken, can be a hazard to clean up because of the mercury which is unresponsive to virtually all normal methods of cleanup.
e) Seem to perform poorer when utilized in an enclosed outside fixture that an incandescent.
f) May promote migraines among those who are prone to them.
g) They are considerably more expensive initially although they last longer and cost far less to operate.
Just some food for thought.
Posted by: mal | January 17, 2008 07:05 PM
They also don't provide the same level of light. I'm curious, is this legislation going to ban flood lights, spotlights, indoor halogen lights, etc.?
There are so many types of track lighting used in the home where this would be cosmetically unappealing for one, and wouldn't provide the same illumination for two.
I've tried using these bulbs to save energy, but they just don't provide adequate light in all situations
Posted by: zilla | January 23, 2008 12:22 PM