House Votes To Block Light Bulb Efficiency Standards
Think Progress, July 10, 2013The Energy and Water spending bill for 2014 that’s winding its way through the House was being treated as a political football before Wednesday. But this morning, as The Hill reports, the House added insult to injury by passing a GOP amendment to the bill that blocks enforcement of new light bulb standards.
Those standards were first enacted in 2007 under the Bush Administration by the Energy Independence and Security Act — though Congress has delayed implementation of the standards since. Many commentators characterized the standards as a “ban” on incandescent light bulbs, but technically they weren’t. They were merely new efficiency requirements that apply to the manufacture of all light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs are inefficient energy users, making the new standards a nearly impossible technological hurdle for them to clear.