Posted December 17, 2011 //
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US politics has bitten its own backside and the incandescent ban has collapsed, for now. The whole story behind the proposed ban on incandescent lamps in the USA has demonstrated quite forcefully that this is a political action rather than a genuine environmental action. The ban is enshrined in legislation dating back to 2007 written and passed by the then Republican administration. Now under a Democratic Administration the Republicans have fought the legislation they drafted largely on the principle of freedom of choice. The last 12months have seen a succession of wrecking motions. Some of these are actions by individual states including Texas who have made the manufacture and sale of incandescent lamps lawful within the state. Others have been motions in the Republican controlled house of representatives to strike down the bill which won a majority however by devious maneuvers that required a two thirds majority in the vote ultimately failed.
What has , for now, killed the implementation of the ban is an omnibus bill on financing that has specifically excluded any finance for the implementation of the ban for at least 9 months. The ban is still effectively in force in law however it cannot be enforced. In the end even the Democrats did not try and defend the ban being much more concerned about many other funding requirements wrapped up in the same bill.
So what happens now? It is certain that this breathing space will be used to promote further bills to permanently strike down the ban. Meanwhile several other states are in the process of producing legislation that parallels what has been passed in Texas now that this has separately been confirmed as lawful. On the other side of the fence California’s state legislation for a ban has already been in force for a year and there is no sign, yet, that it will be struck down. The lamp manufacturers have effectively ended incandescent lamp production in the USA in the past few months with only a few specialist lamp lines remaining to produce rough service lamps and, probably, the decorative “Edison” lamps that have gained popularity in the last 5 years or so among some householders and many up market interior designers.
So watch this space. We should see action in Pennsylvania, Michigan, South Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota and Arizona, all states where anti ban legislation is already happening. Senator Perry in Texas is wooing lamp manufacturers to set up a factory to manufacture incandescent lamps in the state. I Canada the lamp ban has been delayed until at least 2014 except in British Columbia which like California has state legislation that enforced the ban in 2011. In Europe the first stage of the ban implemented over the last 3 years comes up for assessment and discussion to see what should happen in the next stage however they still have not finlised legislation on the reflector lamps part of the first stage!
Happy New Year to all who believe the incandescent lamp ban is fatuous!
Kevan Shaw 17-12-11
Posted December 2, 2011 //
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Sweden has been held up as the shining example of a country where recycling is taken responsibly. Unfortunately, as far as the compact fluorescent “energy saving” lamps are concerned things are going very wrong. Svensk Dagblat a major daily newspaper has initiated investigations into recycling that has uncovered some alarming statistics. It appears that around 200,000 CFLs are being incorrectly dumped in glass recycling containers each year. As this glass is expected to be non hazardous, workers who deal with collecting and sorting this are not provided with personal protective equipment that is required when dealing with mercury containing lamps. The result is that these workers have been exposed to potentially harmful quantities of mercury. The glass recyclers are now initiating tests for their employees to see if any are affected by mercury poisoning.
Last March the glass recycling and electrical industries met and agreed the seriousness of the problem however nothing has been achieved in resolving the situation. Frank Tholfsson, CEO of Swedish Glass Recycling (SGA) is quoted as saying of the lighting industry that “They have not taken the necessary steps, we still get this hazardous waste in our glass. Today there are no suitable collection.” SGA have been raising concerns on this issue since the beginning of the incandescent lamps phase out.
There is no way of determining how many CFLs are going into general waste and landfill. There is general concern that efforts made to remove mercury from other sources are now being undone by the massive increase of mercury entering the environment from CFLs.
Swedish Environment Minister Lena Ek has expressed concern and disappointment that the recycling of CFLs has not been properly addressed ” That we would replace the old energy-inefficient bulbs have been known for years, so I am disappointed that the recycling responsibility is not working. I will call the industry for informal discussions on these issues, we will get clear how they will handle these lamps. The meeting will take place before Christmas. This should not be delayed.” She is considering reviewing legislation “If necessary we will also look at producer responsibility for electrical waste, I am fully prepared to strengthen the legislation. We will review the issue with the environment ministry experts.”
if this is the situation in the European country that has the best record and infrastructure what is happening elsewhere in Europe? It seems even Eurocrats are beginning to recognise that the Incandescent lamp ban is not delivering genuine environmental benefits. The former adviser to Margot Wallström during her time as the EU’s environment commissioner, Minna Gillberg is quoted as saying of the ban ” The environmental benefit we are talking about here is really a political advantage. From this perspective the environmental benefits we speak of become an expression of a symbolic climate policy that benefits neither the environment or human health,”
Kevan Shaw 2-12-11
Thanks to Peter from http://freedomlightbulb.blogspot.com for alerting me to this story
