by Camille Lofaro Sowinski
The Quick Facts: California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine would like to pass a law in California that would ban all traditional light bulbs from being sold by the year 2012. He advocates the use of compact fluorescent bulbs which are 75% more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. Critics have dusted off their old mantra that “California has gone too far.” While the idea of switching to more efficient light bulbs is not by itself a new idea, the mandating legislation if passed, would be the first of its kind.
How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?
Don’t let the funny title fool you. It’s not a joke. It’s not even a rhetorical
question. It is the name of a controversial piece of legislation that California
Assemblyman, Lloyd Levine intends to introduce into California’s State Legislature.
The “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act” is an
attempt to stem the tide of global warming by banning the sale of traditional
incandescent light bulbs by 2012. (For more on the issue of global warming,
see Real Mama, Inc.’s Spring 2007 Issue articles entitled, What’s
Hot in 2007? The Earth and Solutions to Global
Warming for the Reasonable Family.)
According to Levine, who chairs the California Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce committee, replacing one 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) is equivalent to preventing 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas, the excess of which is blamed for causing global warming) from entering the atmosphere. CFLs use about 25% of the energy, generate 70% less heat and last 13 times longer than traditional bulbs.
Attention, Ridicule and Drawbacks
Assemblyman Levine has received much attention over this proposed piece of legislation. His office has been besieged with requests for interviews and dozens of news articles have been written on the topic. His idea has even been spoofed on the tongue-in-cheek news program, “The Colbert Report.” But serious critics argue the law should fail because of lack of technology, prohibitive costs, and the need for freedom from imposing laws.
General Electric (GE), a multinational technology and services company that is a leading manufacturer of light bulbs, cites the improbability of switching over every type of light bulb by 2012, pointing out that the technology to create a CFL for the small chandelier light bulb is not yet available.
Others take issue with the higher cost of CFLs, which can be up to $2.50 per light bulb more expensive than incandescent light bulbs. In response to cost critics, Assemblyman Levine argues that in the long-run CFLs end up saving individuals more money-up to $62 over seven years for the average person-because of the fact that fluorescent bulbs last longer and therefore need to be replaced less often than their incandescent counterparts.
Technology and costs aside, the loudest voice against the legislation is that of critics who oppose the law’s imposition on their freedoms. It seems that even those who agree that CFLs are a more efficient lighting appliance would prefer that natural consumer choice drive the light bulb change not legislation. For Assemblyman Levine, and others who wish everyone would reduce their energy consumption, that process could take too long.
Real Mama, Inc. will continue to monitor and report on this piece of legislation.
Information used in this article was found at the following sources, which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic:
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a40/
(Website for California State Assembly Democratic Caucus that details Assemblyman
Levine’s proposed legislation.)
http://www.iwrc.org/downloads/pdf/LightBulbFacts.pdf
(The Iowa Waste Reduction Center provides free, confidential and non-regulatory
environmental assistance to small businesses in Iowa.)
http://www.rmi.org/(Rocky Mountain Institute
(RMI) – a nonprofit group that focused on energy policy)
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls
(Energy Star website at which the EPA, in conjunction with the Department
of Energy (DOE), promotes a program called “Change A Light, Change The World.”
The program offers guidance to consumers on how to switch to more energy
efficient appliances and encourages Americans to replace a conventional
light bulb or fixture in the home or workplace with one that has earned
the government’s Energy Star label for energy efficiency.)
Tags: CFLs, compact fluorescent bulbs, energy efficiency, global warming, legislation, light bulbs
