By John F. McManus | John Birch Society | Jun. 26, 2008

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:

According to a new law passed by Congress, the incandescent light bulb will be outlawed for use by 2014. All Americans will be forced to purchase the new compact fluorescent bulbs that are not only potentially toxic, they are made only in China.

Follow this link to the original source: "Turn Out the Lights — the Party's Over"

COMMENTARY:

Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) contain mercury. The EPA has deemed that they cannot be disposed of in any ordinary way. They must be taken to a local recycling center or carefully sealed in several layers of plastic bags.

If you break one, you must evacuate the room for a period of time, says the EPA, then collect the fragments and place them in a sealable glass container. And on and on do these regulations proceed through three full pages of mandates to deal with a broken light bulb.  

In his short speech before his colleagues on June 11, Congressman Poe held up one of the new bulbs and noted that if he dropped it and it broke, EPA regulations would require emptying the House of Representative of all personnel. He wondered, "Have we gone a bit too far with this nonsense?"

Not only are these bulbs expensive, the very packages holding them alert users to the fact that "these light bulbs may cause interference to radios, televisions, wireless telephones and remote controls." Evidently, it would be wise to turn out the light while watching the latest reality show.

But Mr. Poe saved the best (really the worst) for last. The package holding the light bulb he displayed carried the notation "Made in China." He pointed out that these CFLs are made only in China, which means that more of America’s wealth will end up in that country. Let us not forget, he implored, that "over the past year we’ve seen Chinese pet food kill our dogs and cats; Chinese lead paint is poisoning our children; and now Chinese lights bulbs containing mercury can be harmful to our health."  

Displaying a copy of the U.S. Constitution, the Texas lawmaker claimed to have searched its pages thoroughly and found no power given to Congress to decide what kind of light bulb Americans must use or not use.  And he chided his colleagues for having no real energy bill "except to turn on these light bulbs."

"I yearn for the day," said Mr. Poe, "when America took care of Americans by developing our own abundant natural resources like coal and natural gas and crude oil."  He lamented that those days "have gone the way of Edison’s light bulb."  

He remarks could evoke laughter, anger or even tears. We can only hope that his colleagues were listening intently.