Earlier this month, Thomas Edison’s GE,, together with Sylvania and Philips won a legislative victory when Congress passed an energy bill that would outlaw sale of the standard light bulb by 2012.
Sylvania is the leading light bulb maker worldwide, and GE is tops in America. These two companies, together with Dutch-based Royal Phillips Electronics, concede they basically wrote the new light bulb law. It goes without saying that they stand to profit from it — at consumer expense.
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On Dec. 18, the day the bill cleared its biggest hurdle and passed the Senate, GE’s stock jumped 8.8 percent, and Philips jumped 2.1 percent.
These companies will get rich thanks to energy bill, but it’s not clear the public or the environment will share the windfall GE and Philips will experience. GE makes its CFLs and other fancy light bulbs in China, while it makes its incandescents in the United States.
The light bulb law will ship more American jobs offshore, shift manufacturing to China’s dirtier and less efficient factories, and increase shipping distances. Add in the mercury, and it’s not clear how good this law is for the environment. Its clearest benefit is to the companies who lobbied for it.
Incandescents are way nicer looking and warm.
Who wants their living room lit like a gas station bathroom?
This is depressing. CFLs are of absolutely no use at all in architectural lighting.
What a world when so many can be so easily forced to march like lemmings off a cliff.
Dr. Fruit Fly to the rescue, again.
Thank God the CONservatives haven’t BANNED in-can-descent light bulbs (yet).
Dalton jumped on that bandwagon long-ago.
Will McGuinty follow Quebec and Manitoba with Auh-mur-i-kin Californication-style auto emission regs?
Maybe Steady Eddie should put Albertie under the same regs. then everyone would be driving BIG-GAS pickups, as they are likley exempt. Or ZENN cars in summer only.
http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/products/reveal_main.htm
I installed GE Reveal light bulbs all over my house and I suggest that you do the same. They are beautiful, particularly in the winter.
Tell GE that the ugly, depressing light that comes from Mercury laced “Al Gore” bulbs can go sidelight Hillary’s haggardly coutenance instead. It will be a cold day in hell before they pry the GE Reveal Bulbs from my hands.
The Kyoto friendly screwy bulbs make everyone look like they’ve been at the embalmers. Let’s hope KYOTO gets it’s last rites before the fools in governments lock-step the plan and have us all looking dead.
Imagine the scene. In a dark sleazy corner of a Canadian city, two black Lincolns drive up an alley. Sinister figures emerge from the cars, the trunks clicks open, a case of 24 General Electric 60 watt lightbulbs is exchanged for a brown enveloppe full of crisp new 20’s.
What a sick society!! What do you think Conslidated Edison or Sask Power do with the Kilowatt Hours that are saved from the use of higher priced light bulbs?? Do you think they save them up and send them to Zimbabwe or Mali?? Wise up!! They sell them to the customer who has the money to pay for the bill!! Usually Americans who are in need to of more power for their air conditioners and ice cream machines!!
And what do residents of New York and Saskatchewan have in common?? They both use coal to make electricity. So where’s the savings!! There is none, except Con-Ed and Sask-Power executives will spend an extra month in Florida sunshine as you sit in the dark, wrapped in a blanket becuse you heating bill is too high!!
Mercury is an essential ingredient for most energy-efficient lamps. Fluorescent lamps and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps are the two most common types of lamps that utilize mercury. Fluorescent lamps provide lighting for most schools, office buildings and stores. HID lamps, which include mercury-vapor, metal halide and high-pressure sodium lamps, are used for street lights, floodlights and industrial lighting. A typical fluorescent lamp is composed of a phosphor-coated glass tube with electrodes located at either end. The tube contains mercury, of which only a very small amount is in vapor form. When a voltage is applied, the electrodes energize the mercury vapor, causing it to emit ultraviolet (UV) energy. The phosphor coating absorbs the UV energy, causing the phosphor to fluoresce and emit visible light. Without the mercury vapor to produce UV energy, there would be no light. A four-foot fluorescent lamp has an average rated life of at least 20,000 hours. To achieve this long life, lamps must contain a specific quantity of mercury. The amount of mercury required is very small, typically measured in milligrams, and varies by lamp type, date of manufacture, manufacturing plant and manufacturer.
http://www.p2pays.org/mercury/lights.asp
So, the government of Canada wants to eliminate incandescent light bulbs in favour of compact fluorescent lights in order to save energy.
But what they are ignoring is the associated fluorescent health hazard.
Some people, how many is anyone’s guess, who are sensitive to the frequency pulsations given off by cheap fluorescent lighting.
These pulsations 120 hertz per second or pulses per second, cause headaches, migraines, sore eyes along with unknown side effects. No one knows what these potentially long term exposures to fluorescent light can do and could be a definite risk since people will be using fluorescent lighting on a regular basis when incandescent lighting is phased out and will no longer be available.
Science tells us our eyes adapted to a steady white light such as the sun and not to a pulsating light source.
The worst part is, as fluorescent lights age the pulsations decrease to around a hundred hertz making it even harder on the eyes. The ends of a fluorescent tube I understand where there is hardly any light decrease even lower.
Even laptop computers and LCD televisions or any type of monitor that contains a fluorescent back light to increase screen illumination can potentially cause problems.
Even the light itself from a fluorescent tube gives off a yellowish light and not white light because of fluorescent natural tendency to produce an abundance of blues and reds. This of course is not noticed because of the phosphor coating on the inside of the fluorescent tube producing a white light but with a lot of blue and red escaping producing the familiar yellowish light.
So why would the federal government promote a product that has the potential to create a fairly serious health hazard for many Canadians, with also no recourse to switch back to incandescent lighting??
http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=6&t=8800
Here is how they ask the Brits to dispose of their environmentally friendly CFLs.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/12/19/how-the-uk-governmen.html
Just more confirmation that the global warming scam boils down to a money and power grab and nothing whatsoever to do with protection of the environment.
By the way the American Congress included in the same energy bill which was signed off by the president a requirement for new vehicles to have stickers indicating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they produce along with other wacky things.
What we all end up with is bigger government and higher costs, especially since it will cost more at one point to clean up the mercury from these imposed bulbs.
Seizures can be caused by flouresent lights.
Also, you can get flouresent bulbs that give off white light.
Try turning them on in the winter, they take time to get going.
As for governments trying to meet california emmission stantards, has anyone considered the difference in weather in winter. It gets cold in Canada. Why wait till 2012 to make the change for bulbs. Do it now if it is such a great idea. (it isn’t)
Ontario could introduce California vehicle emission standards and could implement the Kyoto Agreement to reduce GHG by 6% below 1990 levels–a total reduction of 39% in the next 4 years.
McGuinty get on with it,what are you waiting for?
Mary T; CFL’s also do not provide the heat source that incandescent bulbs do. In the northern winter, heating units would have to make up the difference thus reducing the energy savings.
As well, CFL’s provide a Power Factor inefficiency the power company will have to cope with. This could be overcome in the CFL unit itself and perhaps is the case with some already.
I use them extensively but am careful what brand I buy. Chinese made ones have a high failure rate.
Thomas Edison had an incandescent light bulb in his lab, that burned 24/7 for over fifty years. It was pointed out by the tour guide when my wife visited there back in the early 80’s.
If incandescent bulbs can be manufactured to last for decades, wouldn’t it be more efficient to produce more of them, and fewer Chinese made CFL’s, which must increase the carbon footprint of the product in shipping via diesel/electric powered ships?
Not much profit in a product that isn’t disposed of and replaced in a few months, I guess.
*
You guys just don’t appreciate the sheer marketing genius here.
I’m calling it… “The Dion Effect”
You know, like when… instead of actually DOING SOMETHING
that will create a net positive result… you do something totally
useless, or even worse… COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE… like renaming
the family pet in the supposed pursuit of environmentalism.
It doesn’t do squat for the environment… but really… what a play
on leftbot dummitude.
*
Gee, who would have thought, industry cashing in on AGW hysteria. How would that ever happen?
The pro and con of CFL may be pursued at:
http://sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm#dim2
This is a technical site but notably unbiased.
The problem in Canada relates mostly to winter’s cold. They often don’t start.
The potential for bursting into flame, particularly as the units age, may prove to be troublesome.
The Cons are banning incandescents by 2012. Obviously they are in league with with Suzuki/Dion/Mo Strong.
Over 30 years ago I changed all the florescent lighting in my office to regular bulbs. Everyone there agreed that they felt more relaxed, their eyes weren’t as tired at the end of the day and they just felt a little more contented. Once used to the lighting the people that would go from store to store disliked working in the one location where the owner would not let me change the lighting. What was it? I have no idea, but there was something.
And you wonder why people still buy and wear Adam Smith ties. Geez, imagine setting up an advisory service that makes recommendations solely on the basis of what gets churned out of Congress and signed by the U.S. President.
Corporations engaged in rent seeking from brilliant politicians with such diverse life-skilled backgrounds (any non-lawyers?) continually making more decisions for the brilliant people that elect them. Ain’t it great?
Shut-up infidel, Gaia is Great!
Absolutely assinine. I suspect that this ban will be put off further and further into the future and finally forgotten as there are just too many applications in which incandescent bulbs can’t be replaced.
Some moron in one of the buildings I frequent decided it would be a really smart idea to put comfact fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling of the new elevators and they are in a very small enclosure. I stuck my finger in there to test the temperature and burned it. CFB’s don’t like heat and high heat greatly accelerates their chance of failure. Now the elevators are dimly lit since about 2-3 of the bulbs fail every week and the maintenance staff can’t keep up with the replacements. Incandescent bulbs have no problems dealing with temperature extremees.
In the US what may scuttle this incandescent ban is the inevitable avalanche of lawsuits when clueless individuals burn their houses down by putting CFL’s in circuits containing dimmer switches. George W should be forced to write “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” 10,000 times in longhand before he is allowed to propose any new legislation.
the truly stupid are voting for the manipulators that are running the planet. oh for a supernova of the sun to end it all. hey, could happen long before agw kills us.
They’ll get my incandescent when they pry it from my cold dead hand — eh !
Ode to Cold(reposted)
oh its forty below , but I dont give a fk
cause Im going to the rodeo,
its a squiggly bulb left
a squiggly bulb right
but its dark as he11 cuz they wont light.
Notice how this came as a result of big corporation lobbying efforts, and not the environmental movement. In other words, capitalism at its finest.
This is Wonderful! All I have to do is finish changing my incandescent lights to fluorescents. That’s it! I am done!
Then all that has to happen is for my friends and my neighbours to crush their SUVs. Then we are truly done and the planet will survive!
No more disappearing glaciers. No more hurricanes. No more overheating on Mars and Neptune. Wow. All because I changed my light bulbs, and my acquaintences are taking the bus.
Again, WOW!
CRB
Not really, jred. It’s actually mercantilism at its finest. If you’re interested, the slogan laissez-faire originated with a manfacturer telling a government official (Jean de Colbert) to stop meddling around with the economy – to stop sticking the government stir-spoon in the broth, as it were. In context, it meant “the only goverment help we need is to be ignored by it!”
i bought 6 on sale and put them in littleused places. Only 1 is left–in the Shed!
Pitiful light output, and they tend to fall apart(Chinese expertise).
McCompact has completely failed to replace the coal-fired plants(scrubber tech?) with his cherished renewable generation mcscheme and so he’s stuck with jockeying for the publics hope, or something. whattanasshole.
Fluorescents also produce significant amounts of UV radiation, particularly at wavelengths which are harmful to the long-term health of the eye. If enclosed in a suitable capsule, this can be controlled or eliminated, but the last time I bought CFLs, I noted they had no such capsule (and were all made in China).
Does anyone know if the de facto ban against incandescent bulbs in Canada by 2012 includes the somewhat-more-efficient halogens? If so, a lot of people are screwed — halogens are heavily used for architectural and task lighting. In my house alone, some areas are lit only with halogens (and their associated miniaturized fixtures). Unless they can make CFLs that are sub-miniaturized by 2012, all of those fixtures will have to be torn out and replaced.
That’s gonna be outrageously expensive, and will represent a huge waste of societal resources as well.
The world’s being run by boneheads.
Gee…
Can’t I just buy some incandescent offsets?
That’s the same as not using them….right?
Daniel M. Ryan – excellent and true. I think many of us are missing the root of the problem here, and it is the never ending and even increasing government meddling. We have allowed governments over time to increase their role where they should have none. I can find no national government left which is not inflected by socialism to one degree or another – and that includes our neighbour to the South.
I live close enough to BC that I can take my burned out fluorescent lights with me and dump them in the trash there. Everyone wins, Dr. Fruitfly gets his CO2 reduction that earth so desperately needs and I get to have no mercury in my back yard.
Teddy, By jove, I think you’ve got it!
I think I’ll start to stock up now on bulbs… In a few years I’ll make a killing selling them on E-Bay.
As an employee of company X, may I say what a wise piece of legislation that energy bill was; or at least the bit about our superior light bulbs.
The energy bill won’t make a damn bit of difference to global warming or anything else. It will make everyhting more expensive.
When are we going to stop this eco-craziness, this misanthropy?
….. and the Sovs used to say : give them enough rope ….. heh . Notice the difference , gentle readers ?
I hope I may be permitted to say……..
L.E.D.s, they will soon take all your pain away.
GE is coming out with a new version of incandescent bulbs in 2010. These will be as efficient as CFLs (I don’t know about life span) and cheaper. They will have the same spectral qualities as the current bulbs and they will do the instant turn on thing that people expect from incandescent bulbs.
So the marketplace is alive and well.
BTW, my home has been decked out in CFLs for about 4 years now. I’ve not had one fail yet (maybe I’m lucky) and I know that I’ve saved money on hydro (I cannot prove this quantitatively – because I was too stupid to track it – but I definitely noticed a difference in the bills).
as long as lobbyists keep paying off right wing politicians, you can bet that changes will be made by the private sector. this does not bode well for the public good.
The mercury in these new bulbs will be a problem in the future, simply because of the quantity. Some people say no but second hand smoke is in very small quantities but that is bad also. There is the heat lost problem also. In the winter people have alot of lights on because of the short days. At least 7-10 kw’s per day of heat will have to be replaced with other energy. When these curly lamps are turned on the current goes to about 5 times it’s running value. Approx. 3 minutes later it drops back; so turning them off and on frequently its not good for energy savings also. Can’t find no study on heat loss or the on-off. Maybe very little or no saving? Breaking one or two in your house could cost you big clean up bill.Mercury is a hazard period. How can they be energy efficient if you have to spend a lot of energy to special recycle them. That will happen for sure.
Change refreshes the earth.
CFLs are a stop-gap. Led lighting advances daily and will provide cool, simple, low energy fire safe lighting. More cars use it every day.
Bio-fuels are a stop-gap. Toshiba has a quick-charge cell that will make the distilling and trucking of liquid fuels impractical.
The globe will trend warmer then cooler over the centuries. Ain*t change great? = TG
Thanks, Alain. Unfortunately, as long as there is a wide group of people, or a small group of electible people, who think that the government can use ‘direction’ to goose the economy, mercantilism will always be with us.
As a system, mercantilism is neither fish nor fowl, which does make for a certain freedom of criticism for both Left and Right. The Left can blame the incentive component for its misworkings while the Right can blame the government-meddling component.
One of the perverse incentives of mercantilism inclines its supporters to ascribe everything good to the mercantilist system. Because government intervention is mixed up (at least somewhere) in the bulk of the economy, it’s easy to “cherry pick” success stories. As a result, mercantilists eventually lose their credibility, but not after a long spell in “hog heaven” with respect to credit. Such will be the case unless the supporters of mercantilism become far more judicious in assignation of credit where due, which seems unlikely.
there really is a large variety/quality difference between different makes and even models of the same make.
My house is near 100% CFL’s, and it’s quite ok for me.
The “small wattage” CFL’s don’t seem to do shit. I went for the bigger ones.
Also, it takes a few months before they seem to put out their full illumination.
I’m almost all CFL’s as well and will probably start replacing them with LED’s over time as they burn out. The only reason I am doing this is in Alberta we have the most expensive consumer power in North America … and do we get credit for this innovation? 😉
GE & Royal Phillips…there’s the Rockefeller cartel and the Royal Dutch fortune/cartel and Sylvania is a Siemans AG holding …Siemans is a finishing school for EEC technocrats and has been embroiled in multiple bribery scandals with governments)…between them they control the most influential policy making groups in western nations….CFR/CoR/Bilderberg/EEC council
I mention this because of the fact that these people/policy groups keep popping up repeatedly in both north American and European “environmental” legislating which directly benefits their holdings.
The incandescent light bulb ban is just the latest, the others include oil marketing/transport/futures brokering, national resource allocation an land use policy, banking standards and international commerce….always these CFR/club of Rome/EEC cronies have holdings at the center of beneficial legislating.
Proves to me that while “unconnected” industry and business have clout only through the millions they wash into lobbying and party funding, the super rich just simply buy a government caucus to carry their agendas.
In this case a vast fortune will be made under the superficial guise of environmental legislating….when all is said and done the cost of a common light bulb went up 800% and the profitability of these politically influential corporate cartels went up with it.
The Light bulb ban may seem like a simple or insignificant issue but I believe that this is an example of all that is wrong with modern big government and the frailties it exposes in our democratic systems…this incident displays the indemocratic influence establishment cartels have towards repositioning an elected government’s obligation from the agendas of the electorate to those with special interest agendas and undue influence. It is also proof the small checks and balances the electorate have on the halls of power are woefully inadequate to stem crony-capitalism and ultimately corporate feudalism.
What this incident displays is our devolved state of representitive democracy in western nations…we are in a stage of “corporatism”…corporatism is a form of fascism where large monied interests co-rule with a technocratic pseudo-dictatorship…and this environmental/AGW/sustainability guise has been the best cover (political alibi) to construct either corporate feudal technocracies or transnational collectivist statism.
In the era of “big government” responsible democracy is on the wane as the two modern forms of civil oppression seem to be rising from the foundation of the mega-state.
And if the phony left-right partisan paradigm is still your hang-up does it really mater whether a civilly repressive political regime is left or right? Corporate feudalism or socialist feudalism both are systems designed to repress/control the majority.
BTW: A 1998 Club of Rome environmental policy paper stated that the populations of western nations would not accept the nin democratic concentration of corporate and regulatory power unless sold to the public by their leaders as a policy necessary to “save the planet”.
What makes laugh with such a sardonic grin at the irony of Leftoid climate/green zealots is that they are campaigning for the political and corporate conditions which benefit and empower the very people they are allegedly ideologically opposed to…the globe’s super rich and politically connected cartels.
Thank you WL Mackenzie Redux for being another to clarify the matter.
This is why the comment that the problem is caused by lobbyists buying off right-wing governments was rubbish. One only need to look at the track record to see that the same successful approach has been used on all political parties – left, centre and right. Perhaps this success has been possible due to the old divide and conquer approach. As long as almost everyone is preoccupied with other issues, such as Left versus Right along with the Islamist threat, they will remain blind to the bigger plan. This is not to say that there is no Islamist danger nor that all political platforms are equal.
The good folk of Ontario shouldn`t worry about converting to compact fluorescents by 2012. Given what McSquinty will have done to their energy infrastructure by that time, they will be better served by good, warm sweaters and lots of candles.
Stupid dummycrat dim-bulb wanted to ban incendecent bulbs i mean its like this poppycock over the enternal combustion engines its based soly on junk science and rediclous political nonsense THE GREEN DIM-BULBS