Good Idea, Bad Idea

Boken Light BulbThomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb has not just been replaced; it has been outlawed.  Rather than think our Government did this, lets consider the politicians who embodied the Government in 2009 did it.  Our form of government as defined in the US Constitution could not have done it, but the perverse eroded interpretation of that constitution has allowed ignorant at best, or possibly unscrupulous, politicians to do something quite stupid at best, or even dastardly.

Congress says it is attempting to save us from our own inanity, but they simply prove that they are the dim whits.  These spiraled little florescent bulbs are a very bad idea for the very reason it is supposed to be a good one, and more, much much more.

The one reason for the CFL is to save electricity, thus reduce the carbon emissions from power productions, (even if your electricity comes form a waterfall, windmill, nuclear power, etc.).  Sounds like a good idea.  After all we’ve used incandescent bulbs for a long time to save electricity and illuminate large offices, industry, shopping centers, etc. for many decades.  However most of these are contained in a fixture high above the area they service and are in little danger of breakage.  The problem with these bulbs whether they are in a familiar long tube or a twisted little bulb is that they contain mercury vapor.  Mercury is a dangerous “heavy metal” element that can be breathed in or absorbed through the skin or enter directly into the blood stream, (i.e being cut by the broken tube).  It persists in the body virtually for life.  The build up of such heavy metals causes bizarre health issues involving balance, sight, more debilitating diseases, and grotesque birth defects.   This is why even very minor amounts of mercury poisoning through seafood is avoided at great costs.

Industrial use of incandescent tubes is controlled through proper handling and disposal.  Even so, all too often the correct protection and or disposal is not adhered to, individuals are exposed and land fills are contaminated.  The effects of these exposures are too slight to detect at first and show up months or years after exposure, so symptoms are seldom related to the cause.  Now introducing these problematic bulbs into every home in the nation potentially exposes everyone to this seemingly minor hazard for which serious problems will not appear until years after it is too late to stop and nearly impossible to reverse.

Think of how many times you have broken a light bulb or been near one when it broke.  Now think of how each of those would have been another exposure to mercury poisoning.  Now consider that you are probably more careful than most Americans who don’t take the time to read an article about CFRs much less heed the warning labels on the package of CFL bulbs describing the OSHA approved method of cleaning up hazardous waste and containing it for proper disposal.  It seems our 111th Congress and our president, who passed a law outlawing incandescent bulbs in 2014, expect us to be exposed to more hazardous waist or properly clean them up.  The latter is not very probable.

Thus the problem of disposal of the bulbs themselves.  Are we going to bring them to a hazardous waste collection center centers and pay to get rid of them?  We’re supposed to do that with old batteries now but mostly we just toss them in the trash.  Let’s be real, until there is a Hazardous Waist truck that comes by once a month to pick up our dead batteries, burnt out CFL bulbs, and old computer items, we’re going to pollute landfills with them.  Think of the amount of mercury getting into the land and waterways.  Even fresh water fish could become mercury hazardous.  Drinking water may be threatened as well.  Soon we’ll pay for clean-up and extra collection processes through taxes.  Although it is a capital idea, why would we create more of a problem than we already have?  Does everyone recycle effectively now?

OK, but what about saving electricity, (the price of which is going to skyrocket if the current administration has it’s way)?  Saving is good for the user and for the environment right?  Yes, yes it is.  HOWEVER, these bulbs brag that they give off 60-watts of light for only 40-watts of power.  Newton’s Law of “Conservation of Matter and Energy” points out that this is a physical impossibility.  What it really means is that the bulb supposedly gives you 60 watts of light for what a 40-watt incandescent bulb consumes.  The problem with that deceptive boast is that a 60-watt incandescent bulb doesn’t use much more electricity than a 40-watt bulb.  On top of that, are they really as bright as an incandescent bulb of the same rating?  Put them side-by-side and you tell me.  Furthermore they need “warm-up” time, during which they give you even less light.  Given this, we’ll all be turning on more of these lights to get the same illumination.  Where is the savings to your pocket or the environment?

Oh yes, let’s not forget our economy?  The CFLs are made almost exclusively in China.  We used to make incandescent bulbs here in the US but since they have been outlawed, we don’t make them anymore.  We can’t make to CFL bulbs here because the handling of hazardous materials is so regulated that we can’t compete with the Chinese who don’t seem to prioritize the protection of their workers.  This is not a complaint against our safety standards.  It is a condemnation of the legislation forcing us to we buy something that harms humans in another nation while assassinating our own jobs here.

What’s the solution?  Information.

Why doesn’t everyone know the real story?  Somehow they know a phony story about global warming that hasn’t been happening for the last 11+ years.  The public only knows the stories they are fed through the “Lame Stream Media.”  Until the public demands the truth, we will always be told the lies “they want us to believe.  In this case it is all the trillions that will be made through the CCX (Chicago Climate Exchange), the money making side of the Cap & Trade law.  When we stop watching the media that feeds us such lies they will either change their tune or go out of business.  Networks get money from advertising, and advertisers won’t advertise on shows that are not watched.  Do your homework.  Select the networks that feed you the truth or don’t watch them, don’t hit on them, and don’t buy them.  Good idea?  Did a light bulb come on?  Was it incandescent or some twisted reality?

Then there are function CFLs can’t do such as work on dimmers or with timers or photocell switches, frequent switching, moist environments, near anything that vibrates, in enclosed & recessed fixtures, etc., etc.  They can and do interfere with sensitive electrical equipment, computers, TVs, etc..  Now the real kicker.  CFL bulbs don’t work in the “Easy-Bake-Oven.” How could Congress be so cruel?

 

 

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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