Lights out in California?

SACRAMENTO
January 31, 2007 10:20am

Uh-oh. If you have a bright idea in California, don’t expect a cartoonist to draw a light bulb over your head in the future.

That’s because the state may outlaw incandescent bulbs.

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, chairman of the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee, is sponsoring legislation that would ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in California by the year 2012.

He calls it the “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act.”

Instead of the bulb invented by Thomas Edison, Californians would have to buy energy-saving bulbs such as compact fluorescents.

“Incandescent light bulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications,” says Mr. Levine. “Meanwhile, they remain incredibly inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the energy they receive into light.”

He cites research by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on energy policy, that says replacing a 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent would result in the same amount of light but would save 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and save customers $55 over the life of the bulb.

The life of one 75-watt incandescent bulb is roughly 750 hours while the life of a compact fluorescent is 10,000 hours, he says.

“Electricity-saving technologies may not be glamorous, especially when compared with the idea of a shiny new power plant, but the facts are that there are hundreds of electricity-saving innovations now on the market that if fully used throughout the United States, would significantly decrease the electricity the country now uses,” Mr. Levine says.