The American Spectator : Somewhere, Mr. Edison Gently Weeps

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The Nation's Pulse

Somewhere, Mr. Edison Gently Weeps

By Sam Kazman on 12.21.07 @ 12:07AM

Not the brightest bulbs on the Hill.

(Page 2 of 2)

Finally, there's the question of whether CFLs really do reduce the use of electricity. Back in 1987, the small town of Traer, Iowa, handed out 18,000 fluorescents to its residents, in a free giveaway aimed at cutting power consumption. How did that work out?

Despite the fact that over half of the town's households participated, electricity use actually rose by 8 percent. Once people realized they could keep their lights on at lower cost, they kept them on longer.

With this sort of history as a guide, what business does Congress have leading us into a questionably-illuminated future?

Sam Kazman is general counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market advocacy organization.

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topics:
Television, Business, Law, Energy

Letter to the Editor View all comments (1) | Leave a comment

pjoe| 11.22.11 @ 10:18AM

On a deeper level, it's about celebrating Creativity - not Destruction.
Celebrating creativity is about recognizing the advantages that different products have.
That is why they exist for people to choose.

President Obama, State of the Union Address 25 January 2011:
What we can do - what America does better than anyone - is spark the creativity and imagination of our people.
We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices,
the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers...

Yes Mr President, Creative America, the nation of Edison:
Would you not have allowed him to create his popular light bulb?

And so it came to pass, in the autumn of 1879, after tireless effort working with different materials, Thomas Edison finally arrived at the ingenious invention we still see today, the Edison light bulb, in its basic form, without any energy efficiency constraints, the world's single most popular electrical appliance and the oldest electrical invention in widespread common use:
A beautifully simple, safe, cheap, bright light delivering construction.

Maybe the time will come when, like its cousin the gleaming radio tube, it gradually fades away, the passing of old technology.

But let it be a democratic passing by the will of the people,
not a passing by committee dictats and decrees.

How many politicians should it take to change a light bulb?
None.

How many citizens should be allowed to choose?
Everyone.
(source: http://ceolas.net )