But the traditional light bulb — that lowly orb of glass, filament and threaded metal base — has become a powerful emotional symbol, conjuring both consumer anxiety over losing a familiar and flattering light source and political antipathy to government meddling.
On Friday, the House voted to delay enforcement of the new standards until at least Oct. 1, with the Senate expected to agree, as part of a last-minute budget deal to keep the government operating through the rest of the fiscal year. Republicans have vowed to press for a full repeal of the new rules.
“This was one of those things that resonated with a lot of people, especially in the election of 2010, where so much personal liberty had been eroded,” said Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas, a state that recently passed a law to exempt bulbs made and sold within its borders from the federal standards. “The light bulb was what put a public face on it. People got it when you said, ‘Well, why should the federal government restrict my freedom on what type of light I use?’ ”
Yet in some ways, despite all the heated rhetoric and political brinksmanship, the delay hardly matters. The looming possibility of the new standards, signed into law by President Bush in 2007 — and the fact that places like Europe, Australia, Brazil and China have already put similar measures in place or intend to do so — has transformed the industry. A host of more efficient products already line store shelves and poke out of light sockets.
“Bottom line, the standards are moving forward unabated,” said Noah Horowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has promoted the standards. Calling the delay in enforcement a “speed bump,” he added, “Incandescent light bulbs are not going away due to the standard, they are just getting better. The new ones that meet the standard will use 28 percent less power and look and perform exactly like the old one.”
Many of the alternatives to incandescent bulbs are more expensive. But industry executives, government officials and environmental advocates say they often last longer and save money by reducing electric bills. Traditional incandescent bulbs, which essentially use the same technology as Thomas Edison’s original lights, waste most of their energy by converting it to heat instead of light. That problem is largely remedied in newer technologies like compact fluorescent lights (C.F.L.’s) and light-emitting diodes (L.E.D.’s).
Although demand for energy-efficient bulbs is growing among customers attracted by the bottom-line savings, incandescent bulbs still dominate the market.
At Home Depot, which like other leading retailers has developed a house line of energy-saving lights, 60 percent of sales are standard incandescents, 25 percent are compact fluorescents, 10 percent are halogen incandescents (which meet the new efficiency standards) and 5 percent are L.E.D.’s., according to Jean Niemi, a company spokeswoman.
Advocates for the new rules point to California, which adopted the national standards a year early. Consumer anxiety there seemed to fizzle once the law went into effect.
“January 1 came and people were able to go out and buy light bulbs,” said Adam Gottlieb, a spokesman for the California Energy Commission. “There was no light bulb apocalypse.”
Industry executives say they have not found evidence of hoarding or runs on incandescents in California — although that may be because merchants stockpiled 100-watt bulbs, which are still widely available for sale.
At Light Bulbs Unlimited in Los Angeles on Friday, for instance, a sign in the window declared, “Outlawed! Light Bulbs, 100 Watt, Going Fast,” with an exhortation to “Stock up now,” and a 20 percent case discount offer.
Outside the store, many of the shoppers still knew little about the changing standards, although an employee said cases of 100-watt bulbs had been selling fast all year, as people like Philip Miller came in for more bulbs.
Ian Lovett contributed reporting.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c5e8d5e432883bb1791ac3f81c37524f
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