Poor Edison, Rolling Over in his Grave

[BlueHUMMERH2]

To think that people could actually abandon the invention that changed the world. I don't think it's a terrible idea, but why fluorescent? They require MERCURY which is a hazardous material that is supposed to be recycled at a hazardous waste facility (which is where your fluorescent bulbs are really supposed to go). LEDs would be a much better option, and they use a fraction of what even fluorescent bulbs use. I think it's good to conserve energy, not to combat junk science AGW, but just to lower energy consumption and costs. But I think banning incandescents is ludicrous. I think the US is almost done switching over to all LEDs in traffic signals.

Australia says lights out to incandescent bulbs
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...tech-bulb.html

Australia has announced it will ban incandescent light bulbs in three years in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, becoming the first country to do away with this technology, which has been in use for more than a century.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement Tuesday, saying replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs would cut 800,000 tonnes from Australia's current emissions levels by 2012

"It'll be illegal to sell a product that doesn't meet [an energy efficiency] standard, so that will happen by 2009 [or] 2010," Turnbull told ABC radio in Australia. "So by that stage, you simply won't be able to buy incandescent light bulbs because they won't meet the energy standard."

Opposition parties welcomed the ban but said it would still leave the government six million tonnes short of its target to reduce emissions to 597 million tonnes annually, or 108 per cent of 1990 emission levels.

The standard incandescent bulb, developed for the mass market more than 125 years ago, consists of a metal filament glowing white-hot in a vacuum. They have become a target of advocates for energy efficiency because they lose most of their energy as heat.

Turnbull said the switch to fluorescent bulbs would lower household lighting costs by 66 per cent.

Lawmakers in two U.S. states — California and New Jersey — and in the United Kingdom have also proposed bills to ban incandescent bulbs.

One Change, an Ottawa-based not-for-profit organization, is among those spearheading the move to fluorescent bulbs in Canada with a program called Project Porchlight.

The group is working with volunteers and community groups to give one fluorescent light bulb to every household in Canada. The group, with the backing of Hydro Ottawa, has replaced 250,000 bulbs in Ottawa. They've also begun similar campaigns in Whitehorse, Thunder Bay and Guelph.