Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
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Calif. lawmaker: Turn off old-fashioned bulbs
Lawmaker wants to replace traditional incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones by 2012 in move to reduce energy use, greenhouse gases.
Source: Reuters
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
The "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
If passed, it would be another pioneering environmental effort in California, the most populous U.S. state. It became the first state to mandate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a 25 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.
Many CFLs have a spiral shape, which was introduced in 1980. By 2005, about 100 million CFLs were sold in the United States, or about 5 percent of the 2-billion-lightbulb market, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
That number could more than double this year. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Charts) alone wants to sell 100 million CFLs at its stores by the end of 2007, the world's biggest retailer said in November.
California Energy Commission member Arthur Rosenfeld said an average home in California will save $40 to $50 per year if CFLs replace all incandescent bulbs.
Excerpted from a Jan. 31, 2007 Reuters news story