Legislation & Lobbying
Landmark Energy Bill Bans Some Light Bulbs, Ups MPG Ante
Posted Dec 19, 2007, 03:31 pm CDT
By Martha Neil
A landmark energy bill signed into law today by President Bush will require greater fuel efficiency from a wide range of products, including cars and light bulbs.
In an effort to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil, the Energy Independence and Security Act requires a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency for new cars and light trucks by 2020, and bans by 2012 what Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) describes as "the famously inefficient 100-watt incandescent bulb," according to the Los Angeles Times. It also mandates greater reliance on biofuels which can be produced here.
Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says the new law is expected to improve energy efficiency of "almost every significant product and tool and appliance that we use, from light bulbs to light trucks."
Critics, however, contend that it could have done even more.
Houston Chronicle: "Bush signs massive energy policy bill into law."
New York Times: "Bush Signs Broad Energy Bill"
BBC: "Bush signs energy bill into law"
The Swamp (Chicago Tribune): "An energy bill at last ... but will it work?"
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Posted by J. - 9 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 4 hours, 44 minutes ago
Unfortunately, THIS threatens your family’s health.
Fluorescent light bulbs contain an amount of mercury. If you break one, toxins spread throughout the room in the form of a vapor. The EPA warns that you should leave the room for 15 minutes when one breaks and NEVER use a vacuum to clean up the mess (for fear of the spreading the mercury even more).
AND, there is no landfill plan in place capable of properly disposing these mercury-laden bulbs.
Unfortunately the mainstream media isn’t picking this up, so you’ll have to read it, here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55948
And look at this math:
The standard fluorescent lamp contains approximately 20 milligrams of mercury. The EPA estimates that over 800 million such lamps are disposed each year. Since 1 gram of mercury is enough to contaminate a 2-acre pond, there is enough mercury in those disposed lamps to contaminate 20 million acres of water.
But I’m sure Big Government discussed all of this in committee....