Light Bulb Ban
 

Video on Colbert report

FOX is arguing against something that doesn't exist.

So does the Heritage Foundation

there is this Blog, Band the Bulb, that is Pro the phasing out of Incandescent lights

Wikipedia has a very nice article about the whole deal from a Global point of view

And the Huff Po has the story from Calinfornia's point of view

And CNN money think it's a bad idea

So, all those links come down to the latest silly Power struggle in the global scenario... how can people oppose something like this? New technology, better technology... shouldn't we have better standards for efficiency than we had 100 years ago?

All and all, it's blown being all proportion and made into "this week's outrage" and i hope it stops at that. Because it really seems like a silly argument... also i don't know why Fox is fighting against it... this one was signed and brought in by Bush... doesn't that goes against their narrative?

Honestly, I don't see a reason for the law to ban the old bulbs. If it's better for consumers, people will switch over, and if not, I'd rather not have the old ones banned.

I mean, there are places where the old incandescent lights shine (Hah! I am funny!), and there are places where florescents make much more sense. I don't think that we should ban one, just because the other is a better fit in general.

That... What...
No? Let's go with 'No'.

That's good. Neither does anyone else. Incandescents aren't being banned. Inefficient incandescents are being banned. Because they use a lot more energy than they should.

If it's better for the individual, they'll switch over. But what is best for the individual isn't always what's best for society! People will buy inefficient lightbulbs, even if energy inefficiency is seriously threatening society, as long as the inefficient bulbs are cheaper and/or more convenient. So no. No, they won't. And relying on the free market to fix market failure is the kind of fallacy that makes Ice Caps melt. That is one of the roles of the government. Fix market failure. This is a very small step in that direction.

Do you think this is somehow related to opinion? It isn't. They are both lightbulbs. Yes, there are minor differences in the way they operate. But I honestly can't imagine how those are... relevant? At least not compared to concrete stuff, like energy efficiency. It's not like some people prefer one, and others prefer the other. It's fluorescent is objectively better, period. Sure, you might have preferences, but that doesn't change the fact that fluorescent lightbulbs do slightly less to kill our planet, and I'm pretty sure that outweighs individual preference.

And again, it's not like incandescents are being banned. Just inefficient ones. And I cannot think of a good reason to not do that.

Edit:
I'm not a hugely passionate fan of fluorescent lightbulbs. I just find them strangely attractive.
I MEAN I JUST DON'T LIKE OBJECTIVE MATTER BE PRESENTED IN A SUBJECTIVE LIGHT. Which Fox is doing right now. It's honestly kinda silly, acting like this is a big deal. It's lightbulbs, it's a really gradual shift. There's no reason to not do it. Bluh.

All I know is that I used to change one of the two bulbs in the ceiling lamp in the main room in my apartment about every 7-10 days until I switched to CFLs. That was in 2005, and since then I've had to change one of them. No matter what they cost and how complicated they are to discard, it's going to be both cheaper and easier than incandescent bulbs in the long term.

But I can still use them for when I get ideas, right?

Here's something to consider for the environment: fluorescent bulbs all contain mercury. Incandescent bulbs all use the much more environmentally-friendly tungsten.

Counterpoint: Fossil fuel and mining operations used to dig up uranium all end up releasing mercury into the environment. Given the amount of extra electricity required to power incandescent bulbs over CFBs, you end up releasing more mercury into the environment by using incandescent bulbs.

I'll be entirely honest: I don't really care either way what light bulb I'm using. I am, however, mildly irked that one of the florescents that I've bought did not last ten years, and in fact burnt out rather quickly in my desk lamp.

Granted, I think there was something wrong with the lamp in general, as leaving it plugged in when it was off blew a circuit. I've since stopped using it.

but the pig tails are ugly

ugly like your face

Tungsten and uranium are completely different elements. :/


Edit: Oh, I see now. You're talking about power production.

Well, given that fossil fuels are going to be running out within our lifetimes, and nuclear is terribly costly and inefficient, the real concern should be what fossil fuels go into solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectric and geothermal plants.

It's not... it's really not.

Worst case scenario for our Lifetimes is a shift of Power on who has the most reserves. Right now this is the Middle east, but it could fall out. Within the next 30-50 years Fossil Fuels with loose a share in the market of popular energy, and the global dynamics of it might change considering who has the most reserves and the most new found wells in production... a new push for new sources of energy might just push Fossil fuels to be consumed less (during longer) or be applied to it's less polluting application, or even used with new technologies that would make it "cleaner"... all possible scenarios right now.

As to how that applies to light bulbs, well... the new ones need to be properly discarded. But considering how there is a push for Recycling and Mitigation of trash going stronger every year, it's not an absurd push. If the new ones were the norm, having a specialized type of trash collection just for it wouldn't be absurd.

As a note, the US has some respectable reserves. They also have more oil than they let on. Sample size of one, a classmate of mine from out of state said someone had accidentally struck oil trying to build a bridge, but the government came in, quietly capped it, and the bridge was eventually completed. If they did it once, it's not an isolated incident. The government knows exactly what they're going to do after we hit and pass Peak Oil.

Among other things in my experience fluorescents are less likely when dropped to fall and immediately shatter into three trillion microscopically thin pieces which will scatter across your house and hide in your carpeting forever.

So they've got that going for them.

^ Fucking this. My cat is still finding shards in the most painful way possible.

I believe we switched to mostly flourescents 2-3 years ago because they take less wattage and therefore save you money on your electricity bill. We did keep incandescents for a few things where the bulbs are likely to get smashed (such as a trouble light in the basement) or the design of the lamp (such as the lamp shade) requires an incandescent, but those get used less anyway.

As far as them burning out before their time, if you read the fine print they only last five years if you only use them 4 hours a day or something. 2 and a half years seems closer to the truth.

Holy crap those must have been some pretty cheap incandescents. I think your average GE Wal-Mart ones lasted 8 months or a year before burning out. But of course it all depends on how much you use them, or if you do something to damage the fine little filaments inside which instantly ruins the bulb.

As Fifth mentioned, that's a good thing about the incandescents, they are hardier. You have to pretty much drop them to have them shatter or break, whereas if you are only slightly rough with the regular ones you can damage the filament. I don't know that they really shatter into larger pieces, though, they seem just as bad.

Anyway, the arguments for the "banning" of incandescents (which isn't even true as someone else mentioned) because it will cost jobs kind of falls flat on its face when you figure that the same people could be put to work making flourescents. It's not as if companies don't already pass the increased cost of the flourescents onto the consumer.