Texas
Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill that would effectively repeal a federal ban
on incandescent light bulbs within the Lone Star State.
Federal
legislation enacted in 2007, the Energy and Security Act, orders the phase-out
of the familiar incandescent bulb beginning with the 100-watt bulb in 2012 and
ending with the 40-watt light in 2014, because these bulbs cannot meet
efficiency requirements dictated by law.
Compact
fluorescent lights (CFLs) are the least expensive alternative. They use about
75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last far longer, but they
cost significantly more, take longer to turn on, can flicker, and contain small
amounts of highly toxic mercury. This creates problems when they break or need
to be disposed of after they burn out. An effort at the federal level to repeal
the 2007 act failed.
But a bill in Texas — which would go into effect on
Jan. 1, 2012, the same day that the ban on 100-watt bulbs goes into effect —
would allow Texans to continue to buy incandescent light bulbs. You know the
ones that aren't spirally.
The
bill states: “An incandescent light bulb that is manufactured in this state and
remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation under
the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.”
But
a report by Ryan Brannan of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a nonpartisan
research institute, pointed out that the Texas bill will have to survive
judicial scrutiny to determine if the interstate commerce clause does apply.
There is precedent supporting both sides of the argument, he noted.
Also,
it is uncertain if Texas can attract the requisite manufacturer of incandescent
bulbs.
General Electric has closed its incandescent bulb
factories in the United States, firing hundreds of workers. GE, CEO, Jeff Imelt
Obama's job CZAR that is advising on how to create American jobs.
The manufacture of CFLs, by the way, is too labor
intensive to be practical in the U.S., and CFLs will likely be made in China.
More jobs going to foreign countries and forcing Americans to buy foreign made
products.
“The
light bulb ban represents a microcosm of the larger problem with energy
efficiency measures, which are promulgated with ever increasing upfront costs
to consumers yet with only speculative long-run returns,” Brannan observes.
“The
fact is, the incandescent light bulb should be allowed to compete with CFLs,
LEDs, halogens, candles, and other current and future technologies. If the
incandescent survives, then the market will have made its decision for the
betterment of the American consumer and the better bulb would have own.”
