While I may not be a Birkenstock-and-hemp-shawl-wearing Greenie, I have a basic appreciation for conservation and recycling. Curbside recycling began when I was a kid, and I think it makes a lot of sense. Just about everywhere I have worked, the company or building has had a recycling program in place. I feel a twinge of guilt every time I put a piece of paper in the trash instead of a recycling container. Most people of my generation and younger now view recycling as a usual and ordinary part of life. We have adapted well to the new paradigm.
Our conservation practices, however, are voluntary. The local government has made recycling opportunities available, and by and large, we have taken advantage of them. The state has put a bounty on soda cans and an incentive to recycle, and we respond.
What I have difficulty accepting, however, is a governmental mandate to achieve the same result. In the spirit of our former Governor Moonbeam, a local politician has authored a bill outlawing incandescent lightbulbs. Just because someone reported on the Today show that compact fluorescent bulbs are starting to sell in greater numbers does not make it a good idea to require their use exclusively. Fluorescent bulbs do not come close to matching the variety in size and wattages available in incandescents (good luck with those little bulbs you find in cars, flashlights and other small application). Fluorescent bulbs can have a mild-to-serious effect on health (everything from eyestrain and headaches to seizures in those prone to such things). And speaking of recycling, have you ever tried to dispose of a fluorescent bulb? That's right, you can't. You can't even recycle them in a normal manner. Why? Because they contain a nasty little beastie called mercury. A typical fluorescent bult contains about 20 milligrams of mercury; 1 gram is sufficient to contaminate a 2-acre pond. Currently, about 800 million fluorescent bulbs are discarded each year, yielding enough loose mercury to potentially contaminate 20 million acres of water.
None of this is to say that reducing energy consumption is a bad thing. Also, recycling works for fluorescent lights. Unfortunately, to prevent a much more serious environmental problem than the downstream effects of the extra energy required to power incandescent lights, careful and costly recycling programs must be used. The better policy, it seems to me, would be to provide incentives to use more energy-efficient devices (appliances, including Toyota Priuses, have enjoyed this advantage for years), rather than to compel the use of one particular technology. The best result, of course, would be for manufacturers to develop and sell more efficient products that are attractive to the consumer for that reason in particular. In recent years, this has started to happen on a broad scale (again, see the Prius). Before long, we may have LED flashlights and fluorescent chandeliers, but I would hope it is because people want them, not because they will have no choice.
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Despite the energy saving potential of fluorescent bulbs, there is still some considerable gap in their being able to fill all the functional specifications of incandescent bulbs. I know, because I do try to use fluorescents wherever practical. They are still prohibitively expensive for most sizes and power levels and simply not available at all for many applications where I have searched for a replacement for an incandescent. I have even special ordered some small, low wattage lamps and been blown away when they came in at $15/bulb! They are progressing in the right direction, but not quite ready for prime time.
As to your pending legislation, the enforcement aspects will certainly be challenging. As soon as the sun goes down, the special Incandescent Lamp Detection Squads will hit the streets to patrol neighborhoods with sensitive wavelength measuring sensors to sniff out hardcore "filament junkies." The courts will be full of offenders that have smuggled, distributed or habitually continued to use contraband bulbs.
On a serious note, replacement of incandescents will happen when better alternatives are encouraged, but flourescents aren't the only choice. LED lamps are coming into their own and use far less power than either incandescents or fluorescents. And if this whole thing is about legislating energy savings... yes, there are lots of other areas to make a greater and quicker impact (without having to convict half of your population). This will be fun to watch!
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