The End of Thomas A. Edison's Light Bulb

You may have seen it on the news; GE will close its light bulb factory in Winchester VA. IKEA announced it will stop selling light bulbs. Toshiba will also stop production.

I am certain that Mr. Edison never felt that Mr. Tesla's florescent light bulb was ever going to be a real competitive threat. Edison never bumped heads with the EPA. Had the EPA been around during Edison's day he may have been shut down.

The United States, Energy Act of 2007 established efficiency standards that doomed the energy hogging light bulb. You can read the act here - Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007/Title III/Subtitle B "We are from the government and we are here to help you lower your energy bill" (LOL). I hope you remember our Presidents talk on his plan to raise energy cost. You can read it here.

I don't think that our government really cares about our eclectic bills; it's more about burning coal and oil to light our homes. When we, the consumers, did not voluntary switch over to the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) or LED's the government simply did not ban them as that would have caused a public outcry, it just regulated them out of existence. And that is the key to government's control over industry and commerce. Its kind a like smoking regulations: it's not illegal to smoke and they don't want a public outcry by making smoking illegal so the special interest groups moved in to get city governments to pass civil "ordinances" to "prohibit" smoking in all public places. And now the FDA is in charge of the tobacco industry.

I am proud say that I was an "early adopter" of the CFL. Yes I admit it. I used them in my garage door lamps and front door lamps. I noticed that the "going green" claims do not measure up to the 6 to 8 year longevity and brightness standards (in cold Michigan winters). I used these CFL because I was always replacing burnt out bulbs caused by the shuttering and slamming of doors and not for the 80% energy savings.

At this point I am not sure that an affordable and viable light bulb will come along soon, but judging from the NYT article, which you can read here, you may have no choice but to buy the CFL bulbs or stock up now on the ILB. Oh yes, you can but those fancy LED's but you may have to get financing or a "go green" federal grant.