The incandescent light bulb is a quintessential American invention, discovered by Thomas Edison more than 125 years ago, but its future seems to be fading to black amid an ever-greening society. As Americans become more environmentally conscious, consumers are being pushed to buy more earth friendly products including compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, the latest help-the-planet issue du jour among concerned citizens.
At the federal level, President Bush signed an energy bill in December that, among other changes, will require all light bulbs sold in the United States by 2014 to be at least 70 percent more efficient than today. For those of you that haven’t already connected the dots, the mandate means that, without major improvements, incandescent bulbs will disappear from store shelves by 2014.
After Congress delivered its comprehensive energy bill to the White House in a Toyota Prius hybrid car, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, waxed poetic about light bulbs, noting that little had changed since Edison and his glass tube and filament. “When it comes to illumination,” Harman said, “we still live in a cave.”
The environmental keys to CFLs are their efficiency and longevity. According to government figures, CFLs use about 75 percent less energy to emit light than incandescent bulbs, and last as much as 10 times longer. So, although customers pay more for CFLs up front, they save money over the life of the bulbs. Furthermore, less energy from fossil fuel-burning power plants is needed to light homes and businesses, reducing greenhouse gases. Traditional bulbs, the government says, utilize only about 10 percent of electricity to create light; the rest is either lost or given off as heat. Sounds great, right? All in favor, say Aye…
But wait! CFLs aren’t quite the panacea they may seem. They come with their own environmental risk - mercury, about 5 milligrams sealed within each of the pretzel-shaped alternatives. Problems arise if the bulbs crack during improper installation or shatter when dropped. The EPA has mandated strict procedures for dealing with such occurrences as well as for disposing of the bulbs when they eventually burn out. While critics scoff at CFLs as “pro-mercury,” advocates say the health and environmental risks are small - minute compared with the mercury emitted from coal-burning power plants.
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, delivered a concerned, if somewhat humorous, speech before the House that highlights some of the issues concerning CFLs. For example, there is an inherent health risk, and - get this - they all come from China! Frequent contributor Mike sent me a link to the CSPAN broadcast of the speech that you may find enlightening (pun intended).
Why does stuff like this get passed without first ironing out the potential problems, you ask? Probably because some of our elected officials are supping at the special interest trough while the rest are simply waiting their turn.