Incandescent bulbs are back! This caught me completely by surprise, as I thought the issue was politically kaput. The budget deal just agreed by the bipartisan negotiations (and which That One has already said he'd sign) includes some side-agreements (that's business as usual for our crazy legislature). One of those side-agreements defunds all enforcement of the Bush-era energy standards that effectively banned incandescent bulbs. It's not complete victory, as the standards are still on the books – but at least they won't be enforced.
The lamestream media is covering this story, but in a low-key manner – and is mindlessly mouthing the support of the environmentalist wackos and bemoaning the loss of the rules. Not a single story mentioned the fact that the major support for this bill comes from the rent-seeking lobbying of Philips and General Electric, who were after a government mandate to replace every light bulb with newer, less reliable, higher margin replacements. And of course there wasn't a single story about the fact that the quality of the light from incandescent bulbs is different (and, for most people, markedly better) than the alternative technologies available today. Nope, they just want to tell me what to do, because they know how to spend my money much better than I do!
No comments:
Post a Comment