DISQUS

Blippitt: Light Bulb Ban Begins in Europe

  • lighthouse10 · 2 months ago
    Normally a ban is on a product that is safe to use.
    We are not talking about banning lead paint here!
    (Note the consumer legislation irony,
    forcibly replacing a cheap, simple, safe, popular and easily bright product,
    with an expensive, complex, mercury-releasing, unpopular and more difficultly bright product as the main suggested replacement).

    CO2 gas?
    Light bulbs don't give out any gases - power stations do.
    Cars, unlike light bulbs, also give out CO2 emissions:
    But inefficient combustion engine cars are taxed for CO2 emissions, not banned because of them.

    Where there is a problem - deal with the problem.
    Dealing with emissions (for all they contain, whatever about CO2): http://www.ceolas.net/#cc10x

    So what is this light bulb ban all about?
    This is simply a ban to reduce electricity consumption.

    As such, like taxes reducing consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and "carbon tax" on petrol/gasolene,
    clearly light bulbs could be taxed too


    Supposed energy savings don't hold up
    ( http://www.ceolas.net/#li13x onwards)
    and taxes are in themselves not justified,
    simply a better alternative than bans, also for pro-ban politicians to gain income on the reduced sales - which they can of course use for renewable energy projects etc.

    Europeans (like Americans) choose to buy ordinary light bulbs around 9 times out of 10 (European Commission and light industry data 2007-8)
    Banning what people want gives the supposed savings - no point in banning an impopular product!

    If new LED lights - or improved CFLs etc - are good,
    people will buy them - no need to ban ordinary light bulbs (little point).
    If they are not good, people will not buy them - no need to ban ordinary light bulbs (no point).

    The arrival of the transistor didn’t mean that more energy using radio valves/tubes were banned…
    they were bought less anyway.