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Light Bulbs and Corporate Welfare

Democrats continue to believe that Americans are too stupid to choose their own light bulbs. But it’s worth noting who, in addition to Democrats, favors light bulb socialism: Big Business.

Companies like General Electric, Philips, and Osram Sylvania are not happy with the inplementation delay because they invested lots of money getting ready for the new laws. The new laws were not actually delayed, but rather the enforcement was delayed. Without funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) will have no way to make sure that Americans no longer use incandescent light bulbs.

The law, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed by George W. Bush, that was to go into effect on January 1st, 2012, only applied to 100 watt bulbs. 75-watt bulbs would have been regulated out-of-existence in 2013, and all other incandescents in 2014. But enforcement of the new law was de-funded by GOP lawmakers who were able to include an enforcement postponement of the law in the Omnibus spending bill.

Philips, in 2007, sought an incandescent light bulb ban as a way to force the market toward high-efficiency bulbs. Philips said that without such laws, “purchase price and functional performance often take precedence over environmental concern.” Also in 2007, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) told a Senate panel that an incandescent light bulb ban was needed “to further educate consumers on the benefits of energy-efficient products.”

Many corporations made their peace with the US government and now lobby to safeguard their market shares and guarantee their profits. Republicans should be pro economic liberty, not pro corporate welfare.

And, as Rich Mitchell closed his article, Representative Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that they [Republicans] had “heard the message loud and clear. Americans don’t want government standards determining how they light their homes.”

But that’s just my opinion.

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3 Comments

  1. (In so many words) corporate profits and R & D expenditures “often take precedence over environmental concern”. Oh really? What I want to know is, what environmental concern? I thought we killed off the man made global warming scam? Didn’t we prove beyond a shadow of doubt that the whole thing was cooked up by Maurice Strong, his buddies at East Anglea College in GB, and their friends at the U.N. who were looking forward to billions in energy taxes on industrialized nations like America, specifically America? Didn’t those emails that were exposed mean anything to the Socialists/Marxists/Communists at the U.N.? I thought that our representatives in the Senate and in the Congress who had made their report to the IPCC that man made global warming was a scam and in order for the big wig corporate investments to come through their being exposed meant nothing, right? What kind of a signal are we going to have to send to the corporations in order for them to throw the R & D into the crapper, and maybe in another life GE might get a chance to poison everyone with mercury filled light bulbs but it ain’t going to be this one.

    You know these people who have been in control of our government and have had over 45 years to rebuild it in their image, redo our entire law making process so that it is as Socialist/Communist as can be, and thrown our Constitution into the toilet and flushed it, believe that nothing we do just really doesn’t matter because after all, this is their world and not ours. This is their country, not ours. This is their decision to do as they please, not ours. And this is something they believe needs to be done in the name of saving the environment even though they know it’s not going to do a damn thing as long as they mean well. Isn’t it going to take the almost total destruction of their world by near force going to be the only way they will wake up and realize their utopia is dead. It was dead to begin with because it all came from the drug induced fanatsy’s back in the 60’s when from a acid fog they emerged to declare they have truely been enlightened by the experience. Well, when it’s a fantasy you can’t expect those of us who must live in reality to agree that what is reality will just have to go away and instead substitute it for their fantasy. It’s just not going to work.

    But the problem is the leftist/Socialist/Marxist/Communists have control of key courts, and government commitees, and agencies, and know from 45+ years of practice what they must do in order to force their squiggly light bulbs down our throats. And in the mean time what are the corporations going to do, sue us for not liking their mercury filled light bulbs? What are they going to charge us all with, failure to comply with environmentally unsafe lighting? That sounds like a liberal. “Here, take this. Even though it is dangerous and won’t do what it’s supposed to do, we believe that in time you’ll like them. Besides we’ve spent alot of your money on them and we need our return on the investment.”?

  2. George Bush signed the bill in 2007 with a 5 year grace period, ending now. He praised it as a national security measure, as 75% energy savings on lighting is energy equivalent of millions of barrells of oil we don’t have to import from the Arab nations that hate America.

  3. “…made their peace with the government…”, “…protect their market share…” what kind of BS is that? Besides the corporations making their peace with the government is liberal-speak for they were bought off, or gave enough in campaign contributions to have paid sufficient homage to the Socialists, and have been promised that whatever they loose in revenue on dangerous a** light bulbs the government will pay back to them in taxpayers dollars or yen or whatever the going money is for the day. I hate this crap!!

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