Canada and Australia Are Banning Light Bulbs... Are the United States Next?

Traditional Incandescent light bulbs could soon be outdated as countries take steps to ban these in hopes of a greener tomorrow and to lessen the effects of global warming. In February, Australia announced that it would be banning the sale of traditional incandescent light bulbs in coming years. They hope to have these phased out by the year 2009.

Canada recently joined this cause as well. They have hope of having them phased out in their country by 2012. By doing this they plan to reduce their emissions by 150 million tons. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn stated in a news conference that the average household could save around 50 dollars a year if they switched to the compact fluorescent bulbs.

Could the United Stated be on the heels of this trend to help reduce the greenhouse gases?

Several states are considering doing just that. California and New Jersey may not be far behind making similar changes and introducing legislation. In April 2007, a bill to ban the use of the traditional fluorescent bulb passed the vote by the California Assembly's Utilities and Commerce Committee starting this first step in the process. It states that the sale of 25 watt to 150 watt bulbs will be phased out by the year 2012 and their sale prohibited. A study suggests that this ban could reduce the greenhouse emissions in California alone by 1.82 million metric tons. The Bulb Ban still has to clear the Appropriations Assembly before it moves on to the Full Assembly for consideration. New Jersey has also initiated efforts stepping towards banning these traditional bulbs.

Light Bulb producers General Electric and Philips differ on their stance on the handling of this issue. Philips supports this ban while General Electric has a completely different position on how this should be handled. They feel that a complete ban on the traditional incandescent bulbs could lead to job losses here in the United States. They state that 90 percent of the compact fluorescent bulbs sold in the United States are imported from China and that this would greatly affect our job market here. General Electric proposes changes to the Energy Efficient Standards as a possible option instead of this complete ban. They also disclose they are working to make more energy efficient incandescent bulbs. In spite of these changes, countries all over the world are moving forward in an effort to lessen the green house gases by considering this ban. It appears the United States is amongst them.