Environmental Talk

“You light up my life . . . in an energy efficient, socially conscious kinda way . . .”

Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”

He might have added, “Idiocy is one percent comprehension and ninety-nine percent intervention.”

Politicians in California gave the fluorescent green light to a bill that would ban the incandescent light bulb. Similarly, in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is looking to continue a trend of imposing his personal preferences on people in the city by mandating the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

The incandescent bulb isn’t the only thing getting screwed here. The concepts of free trade and individual choice are taking major hits.

In California, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-knucklehead-Van Nuys) said he “drafted his bill to specifically target incandescent bulbs because he wants to send a message to the public that compact fluorescent bulbs are ideal lighting substitutes.”

Levine has such a high opinion of his constituents that he figures they won’t be able to figure that out for themselves. Or maybe he figures that the CFL companies aren’t savvy enough to advertise effectively, so Levine will just give them a little help.

Levine also conveniently neglects to mention that CFLs are more environmentally troublesome to dispose of and can cause a health hazard because they have mercury in them.

The economics of CFLs over ordinary light bulbs are available to anyone who cares to take the time to do a little simple math or a simple Google search. A good article on incandescent vs. CFLs vs. LED bulbs can be found at productdose.com They even have an Excel spreadsheet you can download and tweak for your individual cost and use.

If cost and energy efficiency were the only criteria we used in making a decision, we’d all be riding bicycles instead of driving cars. Fortunately, it hasn’t come to that yet.

If Assemblyman Levine wants to use CFLs in his house, he should certainly do so. If he wants to go on TV and proselytize about the benefits of using CFLs, I’m okay with that, too.

As a matter of fact, I’ll probably switch to CFL bulbs on my next shopping trip, but it will be my choice. On my worst day, I wouldn’t even think of strong-arming anyone else into purchasing them any more than I’d threaten to beat up someone who chose a different breakfast cereal.

It’s about time we reined in politicians all across the board from using governmental power to force people to do what the politicians feel is the “right thing to do.”

We’ve got an education system and health care system that both could stand a little work. You’d think that might be a bigger concern than trying to legislate what kind of bulb I’m going to put in my desk lamp.

global warming, climate change, Bloomberg, California, light bulb, fluorescent light bulb, CFLs, LEDs, Levine, LLoyd Levine, government force