My house has a strange temperament that seems to cause light bulbs to burn out quickly. In addition, at least two or three burn out at a time, so we buy new bulbs fairly often. If you're like me, you stand in front of the light bulbs aisle and look back and forth between the cheap-as-dirt traditional bulbs and the more pricey and environmentally friendly, "energy-saving" bulbs. In the end, you buy the cheap ones and slink to the checkout, hoping no one judges you for not doing your part for the environment. I recycle like a madwoman, I don't buy bottled water, and I don't litter. And I turn off lights and conserve as much as I can, so why do I feel guilty for not buying these bulbs?
If you're in my same boat, there's something you should know. Please take 5 minutes and watch Rep. Ted Poe (a fine example of a Texan, one I am proud of) explain this to Congress. Then tell someone else about it.
7 comments:
Well, Representative Poe is certainly a very good public speaker. The mercury concern is a valid one, but really just adds another to the plethora of harmful elements in the modern household. You can likely file this concern next to the radioactive lump of Americium strapped to your ceiling.
If you don't have the money to afford the energy saving bulbs, then you have no reason to feel guilty. Anyone who says otherwise is a pompous hippie, most likely living off the money stockpiled by their pompous yuppie parents when they sold out their beliefs.
While I don't think that the light bulb legislature is the end of the world, I agree with Mr. Poe that the real need is to develop new sources of energy. Personally, I think the future of energy production is in Stirling engines and Nuclear Fusion.
So weird! The bf is convinced that I am crazy for thinking there is something wrong with our house, our light bulbs keep burning out since we moved in last Sep.!
RenMan--as far as the pompous hippie goes, I live in Austin. There are a lot of them about.
Tina--maybe super smart people like us just blow fuses with our brains. ;-)
I ran across your blog when you posed to a grammar blog.
Thanks for posting this video - it is refreshing to hear someone articulate this point. I especially appreciate Rep. Poe's point that the Congress has overstepped their Constitutional authority by passing this legislation.
I wish he would have also made the point that if Congress had any balls they would require them a lot sooner than 2014.
I agree with him about buying products from China. It used to be patriotic to buy USA. Now everyone shops at Wal-Mart, which is full of products from China.
And I also agree that it's ridiculous that we think changing what kind of lightbulbs we use will solve our energy problem. And I do use fluorescent lightbulbs (and have lived in one place long enough to see monetary savings by not buying them often). I'm just not stupid enough to think that it'll solve the problem.
However, it bothers me that when he talks about "developing our own abundant natural resources" that he mentions coal, natural gas and crude oil. Ummm, what about solar and wind? Aren't they the most abundant natural resources we have? Is it because no one can sell us wind and sun that we're ignoring these options?
Trej--good point.
Wendy--I don't doubt that they do help the environment, but no, not solving the problem. But the risks involved with these bulbs complicate things. You're right that we should be focusing on solar and wind possibilities, and I think to some degree we are--"The U.S. wind industry grew by 45 percent in 2007, and over half of that growth was contributed by Texas. Texas is the leading wind state in the U.S., accounting for close to one-third of the nation’s total installed wind capacity, which is the equivalent of the electricity needed to power more than one million Texas homes. A single megawatt of wind energy can produce as much energy used by about 230 typical Texas homes in a year." The Panhandle (my future home) is stupid with wind turbines. But, you can't fault a Texas for not thinking about oil, either. Oil,
the true amount of which is unclear as countries don't typically provide necessarily accurate numbers of their reserves, is a fossil fuel that can't really be replaced. The countries with the most oil reserves happen to be the ones we like to spread our democracy to: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and, uh...Canada. Anyway. My point, whatever it is, is nicely supported by a video called "I'm Voting Republican" on youtube. Check it out.
Post a Comment