Monday, September 20, 2010

The Mandates Are Coming to Your Home

Clear, concise, and to the point. If you like poison lightbulbs, you'll LOVE what these folks have in store for you.

Assistant Energy Secretary Cathy Zoi said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy has a “mandate” to issue regulations to determine what household appliances are available to Americans in the future.

"[ ]...the secretary and I love,” said Zoi, “is where we have a mandate. Where we can actually just issue regulations and do market transformation.”

Here's the line that's deceptive:

We’ve already issued appliance standards that are going to save the American public somewhere between $250 billion and $300 billion over the next 20 years, just by getting the crummy stuff off the market.”

It is reasonable to be a skeptic about her numbers. There are always significant trade-offs when designing "higher-efficiency" appliances (or automobiles). One of those trade-offs emerged with the "energy efficient" lightbulbs--which happen to contain mercury, a highly toxic substance.

Other considerations include the use of more exotic metals--which cost more--or more exotic manufacturing methods, which ALSO cost more. Reliability might be affected.

But what does this bunch care? Or KNOW about the trade-offs?

Remember, too, that this bunch will be subject to a BigBusiness lobbying effort which will have the effect of promoting Big Business interests.

YOUR interests? Not so much.

1 comment:

Larry Denninger said...

I saw a video this AM about the "dirty electricity" produced by the CFL's. Sorry I don't have a link to the video, but it was pretty interesting - those bulbs might be dangerous to people's health, esp. diabetics and MS sufferers.

The energy savings is a joke - if the electricity producers see their revenue reduced because people are using less, then they will just charge more, or find other ways to make up for the lost revenue. Power companies are in business to make a profit, not to make energy.