I guess that’s what I’m to take from this tidbit of legislative wizardry. Those compact florescent bulbs give me headaches. Yet the federal government is going to force me to use them within 12 years. Why else would they legislate that I get headaches, unless they hate me?
The solution to me is clear. Hopefully by 2020 this whole law school thing will have paid off sufficiently that I will have the resources to hoard years worth of incandescent bulbs. Enough to last until technology helps me out. But one thing’s for sure: Can you think of any better way to dissuade technological progress than to tell light bulb companies, “The light bulbs you’re making now are good enough to meet our standards for the next dozen years, and we’re going to outlaw competing types of bulbs”? Thanks, government.
Here’s perhaps the best bit.
Proponents of government intervention into the light bulb market argue the change will save consumers money – Davidson reported it will save $40 billion in energy and other costs in the next 22 years.
Let’s see. $40 billion/22years = $1.818 billion/year in savings. Let’s be absolutely ridiculous and say that the population stays at 303,000,000 for the next 22 years. That would be a savings of…6 FRICKIN’ DOLLARS A YEAR. Wow. That’s like 50 cents per month. I can’t buy a can of Coke from a soda machine for less than 75 cents. If I used my savings to buy a stamp, envelope, and piece of paper, I could write the president a thank you note. And then the next month, I could use my savings to send one to Congress.
I guess it’s okay that the government hates me, though. Because I hate them.
Posted by Apollo in George Bush Sucks!, Science & Evolution, The Democratic Congress