What is the quintessential symbol for a great idea? Or enlightenment? Or discovery?
It's the light bulb that flashes on above someone's head! Now, thanks to the Nanny Staters in Congress, that symbol may be short lived.
WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.
The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs
What ever happened to being "pro choice"? When the Compact Fluorescent Lamps first came out, I bought a number of them, buoyed by the promise of long life and energy savings. It was my choice. I didn't need the government to make the cost/benefit decision for me, I made my own. Later, after having witnessed the built in ballast of one of these lamps short out, (you could tell that a lot of the "magic smoke" had gotten out) I decided that these were not the sort of bulbs I wanted to put in lamps on timers that might come on (and possibly short out) while I was away.
I still use a mixture of incandescent and CFLs, but it's my choice. Thanks to the Nanny State Congress, in just a few short years we will no longer have that choice.
The government that apparently knows best how many gallons of water (but not how many times) it takes to flush your toilets, has decided what consumer products you ought to buy. In the above scenario, if Mr. Edison's invention malfunctioned while I was away, I simply unscrew it, replace it with another and throw the old one in the trash. But, at least it was not as likely to burn my house down!
Disposal of these toxic marvels is a wonder to behold. Maybe the government could issue everyone a Hazmat suit for changing and disposing of old CFLs?
In the meantime, I'm with Rush on this one. I have a small stockpile of incandescent bulbs which they will have to pry from my "cold dead fingers"!
My sympathies to the 200 who are losing their jobs. Obama promised you "change". Welcome to Obama's new "Hooverville". Two hundred more jobs lost because of the actions of a Democrat controlled Congress.
Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Lady Cincinnatus, Say Anything
Posts
I've been stock piling incandescents for a couple of years now and will continue to do so. As I have calculated it I already have more than enough to last through my life expectancy barring another New Madrid fault line quake any time soon. If you need a real light bulb just look for me on Ebay and bid for it. I'll take your money!
ReplyDeleteMy friendly neighborhood Target puts them on closeout sometimes. I have far more than I need , but hope to accumulate a lifetime supply.
ReplyDeleteCreativity should be celebrated, not Destruction.
ReplyDeleteCelebrating creativity is about recognizing the advantages that different products have.
That is why they exist for people to choose.
And it includes ordinary simple incandescent light bulbs compared to Halogens, CFLs, LEDs….
President Obama, State of the Union Address 25 January 2011:
What we can do - what America does better than anyone - is spark the
creativity and imagination of our people.
We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices,
the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers..
Yes Mr President, Creative America, the nation of Edison:
Would you not have allowed him to create his popular light bulb?
And so it came to pass, in the autumn of 1879, after tireless effort working
with different materials, Thomas Edison finally arrived at the ingenious
invention we still see today, the Edison light bulb, the world's single most
popular electrical appliance and the oldest electrical invention in
widespread common use:
A beautifully simple, safe, cheap, bright light delivering construction.
Maybe the time will come when, like its cousin the gleaming radio tube, it
gradually fades away, the passing of old technology.
But let it be a democratic passing by the will of the people,
not a passing by committee dictats and decrees.
How many American, European or other officials should it take to change a light bulb?
None.
How many citizens should be allowed to choose?
Everyone.
ceolas.net
.
Besides, Proof.....
ReplyDeleteThis saves less than 1% in overall society energy consumption
http://ceolas.net/#li171x
using US Dept of Energy data references
Under 1% overall energy savings from efficiency regulations on incandescent lights...