There are quite a few politicians who are concerned (means Up-In-Arms) about the supposed banning of incandescent light bulbs. These people seem to be mainly or entirely Republicans. Rep. Ron Paul is famous for browbeating Ms. Kathleen Hogan (Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy) over the banning of incandescent light bulbs and seems to accuse her or at least the current Democratic administration of taking away his choices. Unfortunately, Rep. Paul doesn't know what he is talking about. This is not some regulation issued by Ms. Hogan or the Obama administration, but a law of congress passed in 2007, and signed by President George W. Bush. Michele Bachmann is even against making incandescent light bulbs more efficient. She has authored a bill "Light bulb Freedom Of Choice Act" to repeal a Federal requirement that the typical 100 watt incandescent light bulb become 25% more energy efficient by 2012.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/opinion/31collins.html. Talk about Luddites!
Actually Ron Paul is probably going to be able to buy an incandescent bulb as bright
as his 100 watt bulb, if it meets the specifications: "Well the fact is that incandescent bulbs are not being banned, only the ones that do not meet the new energy efficiency standards. What does this mean? It means that 100 is the new 75…watts that is. Literally speaking, the 100 watt light bulb as we know it will no longer exist, but with better technology manufacturers are creating 75 watt light bulbs to be just as bright as the old 100 watt bulbs." (http://www.blog.robinmuto.com/2011/03/22/lightenup-the-facts-of-light-banning-of-the-incandescent-lamp/)
Why, oh why, can't Ron Paul drive on the side of the street that he prefers? He wants choices, not standardization, doesn't he.
Oh, Ron Paul says his toilets don't work, but ours do, almost always on the first flush. We only moved into our new home a bit more than 5 yrs ago so I think we are probably up to current codes.
* And as Roger A. Pielke Jr., a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote in a Times Op-Ed article recently, Washington has been in the standard-setting business since 1894, “when Congress standardized the meaning of what are today common scientific measures, including
the ohm, the volt, the watt and the henry, in line with international metrics.”
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