Or, to bulb or not to bulb, that is the question!
With the House passage of the $1.1 trillion spending bill Wednesday, there could be a desperately needed lifeline for the old-fashioned incandescent light bulb we have come to know and love over the last 100+ years or so. The spending bill dictates the budgets for all federal agencies and includes a prohibition on funding for “the Administration’s onerous ‘light bulb’ standard,” as Appropriation Committee chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky, described it.
The new standard, which had sought to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of ordinary incandescent light bulbs but ultimately spelled the end of the road for the century-old technology. A portion of that 2007 law which finally took effect on January 1st mandated that manufacturers improve their light bulbs to a new much lower electrical draw. The result effectively bans incandescent’s as they simply can’t keep up with those twisty compact fluorescent (CFL) and newer LED bulbs.
But, there’s still hope for those glass globes. Citing “a continued public desire for these products,” the Energy and Water Appropriations section of the bill would prohibit funds to implement or enforce the higher efficiency light bulb standards. “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or enforce the standards established by the tables contained in section 325(i)(1)(B) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act,” reads section 322 of the bill.
Critics call the funding ban a nuisance, but said it likely won’t stop the shift toward more energy-efficient bulbs. “The market has marched forward despite this rider,” Franz Matzner, associate director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council said when talking to USA Today. “The manufacturers have all been saying – we’re going to comply anyway.” In recent surveys, only 3 or 4 Americans out of 10 were aware of the phase out in the first place dependent upon which survey you look at.
Many stores still have the old bulbs on the shelf while they are allowed to sell through existing product and some major chains are reporting up to a six month supply but I caution, if you’ve an old-fashioned round light bulb lover like me, you might want to get out there and get them soon. Most manufacturing plants have already deactivated and disassembled their production lines for my beloved bulb and won’t likely reactivate them.