by J. D'Aloia
Elected
officials often introduce laws for the sole purpose of having a piñata
to bash for the cameras and the folks back home. Congressman Poe in the linked video
is certainly making such use of the law banning incandescent light
bulbs - I did not research to find out how he voted, but it matters not -
he is making the most of it for his time in front of the camera.
My
cynical side says the law was applauded by the environmental Luddites
not because compact fluorescent light bulbs were reducing the dreaded
greenhouse gases, but because the law was a means to further control
society. Such is their goal. Demand changes in what
society uses and how they use it to satisfy some environmental talking
point. When the change has been ordained by a sycophantic legislative
body, then raise a new issue and demand that new laws placing further
control over society be enacted to counter the threats now spotlighted.
More rules, more government, more taxes, less freedom.
Another cynical wonderment - why all the fuss about broken CFLs? Why
has it not all played out for fluorescent tubes? They too have mercury
in similar amounts. There has not been an avalanche of reports of people
suffering from mercury poisoning from broken fluorescent tubes or
moon-suited technicians cleaning up the family room after a tube was
broken. Could it be that within the grand strategy, the timing was not
right to play the poison card? And with LED light bulbs coming on the
market, with an even greater energy efficiency (and much higher cost
than CFLs), will CFLs be banned next?
‘Tis a tempest in
a teapot. CFLs do have a place in the grand scheme of things,
especially for those lights the replacement of which is an all-day
project, or if the spectrum you want cannot be obtained with an Edison
special, or if your lighting demands are such that the cost vs. energy
saved equation comes out to your benefit. Prudent respect for the
dangers mitigates the dangers.
Tacitus nailed it in the First Century AD: "Corruptissima republicae, plurimae leges" - The worse the state, the more laws it has.
See you Trackside.