H.R. 2417, the Better Use Of Light Bulbs Act, was backward from the start. The legislation, written by Joe Barton, didn’t promote the better use of light bulbs. It promoted the use of light bulbs with low efficiency. It was based on the claim that there is an incandescent light bulb ban about to come into effect, but there isn’t. It was rushed onto the floor of the House of Representatives without any hearings or committee review.
The result from this sloppy approach was seen this evening: The Republicans failed to get the bill passed in the House of Representatives. Because the Republican leadership was trying to pass the bill without obeying the standard rules of the House, the anti-efficiency legislation needed two-thirds approval to pass. It got much less than that: 233 in favor, and 193 opposed.
All but 10 Republicans voted for H.R. 2417. The 10 Republicans who had the intelligence to vote no were:
Charles Bass
Brian Bilbray
Scott Garrett
Morgan Griffith
Richard Hanna
Tim Huelskamp
Tom Reed
David Reichert
Scott Rigell
Glenn Thompson
All but 5 Democrats voted against H.R. 2417. The 5 dim-witted Democrats who voted for the legislation were:
Dan Boren
Jerry Costello
Jim Matheson
Collin Peterson
Nick Rahall
Say what you will about our dysfunctional system in Washington and the environmental “friendliness” of CFL bulbs. I think their intensions are good in DC but they take away something from me that I cherish, my free-will. I am a strong supporter of the global warming and a strong support of free markets. This makes this topic so hard for my to be opinionated about. That was until I found an wedsite solving problems the capitalistic way. Lamps.com is this new website who is giving free bulbs with purchases of their products, but not just any bulb, an energy efficient one. For those who are scared about CFLs and the mercury they contain I’m sure they would substitute a regular incandescent bulb for less cost. Let the suits in DC solve real issues and let capitalism solve this particular issue.