How Many Republicans Does It Take to Change aLight Bulb?



— By Kate Sheppard

| Mon Jul. 11, 20111:44 PM PDT





Muffet/Flikr

Last fall, before they even won the majority in the House,Republican leaders were talking about one of their top priorities for 2011:preserving yourright to inefficient lighting. Now, after letting the tyranny of thecompact fluorescent bulbs continue for an entire seven months, the House is poised to vote on a measure repealing the part of a2007 bill that called for a phase out of inefficient bulbs.
They might not have enough votes to pass it, however. As the New York Times reports:
The sponsor of the measure to repeal the bulblaw, Representative Joe Barton, Republican of Texas, argues that the newincandescent bulbs, as well as compact fluorescent bulbs and light-emittingdiodes, will be far more expensive than traditional bulbs. “We don’t think thefederal government should tell people what kind of lighting to use in theirhomes,” he said on Fox News last month.
The repeal measure will be brought up under aHouse rule that requires a two-thirds vote for passage, and it is far fromclear that enough Democrats will join a near-unanimous Republican caucus toensure its passage. But even if the House approves the measure, its prospectsin the Democratic-run Senate are dim.
Barton dubbed the bill the"The Better Use of Light Bulbs Act"—or "BULB" for short—andsays it "protects Americans' access to the light bulbs of their choice andguards against mandates that force Americans to use bulbs that containmercury." Barton failed to mention that the 2007 bill didn't actually ban incandescent bulbs; it only required themto use less energy. But why let the truth get in the way of a catchy bill titleand some angst about Big Government?
Barton and his cosponsors were sure to throw in a line aboutmercury to make it sound like this is a health concern, even though the amount of mercuryis not that big of a problem, at least compared to the amount ofmercury released into the environment by burning coal to power inefficientbulbs. Besides, if you're eating light bulbs, the mercury is probably the leastof your worries.

 


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