Traditional Light Bulbs vs. Compact Fluorescents

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, March 11, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. Most of us know of that great American, Thomas Alva Edison, who spent most of his 84 years inventing things to meet the “desperate needs of the world,” as he said. The first invention he perfected and tried to sell was an electric vote-recording machine like the voting machines used in Atlanta at the Capitol. He took his machine to Washington, hoping to sell it to Congress. After he explained his invention to a congressional committee, the chairman of the said that was the last thing Congress wanted. They would keep voting the same way, so they could trade votes during the 45 minutes it took for a roll call vote. To this day, Congress is STILL voting by roll call, not by machine.

Edison, also, invented the small incandescent light bulb all of us use in our homes and offices, but that’s about to change. The federal energy law gave us until the year 2014 to replace Edison’s invention with compact fluorescent bulbs made only in China. That requires Americans to replace a wonderfully safe and useful American product with a Chinese product containing mercury. They’re so dangerous that the EPA published strict guidelines to clean up the broken bulbs or recycle burned-out ones, because they are so hazardous to our health.

I’ve said all that to say this. On February 9th Senator Loudermilk introduced S.B. 61, to remove from federal regulations all incandescent light bulbs that are manufactured in Georgia and not exported from the state. If S.B. 61 passes, Georgia could produce the bulbs, consumers could buy them and their producers could export and sell them internationally, but not to other states. S.B. 61 cites the Tenth Amendment, Ninth Amendment, and Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States as constitutional authority for Georgia as a sovereign state to pass such a law.

Contact Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Senator Bulloch at 404 656-0040 and ask him to pass S.B. 61 out of his committee. If we don’t get it passed, we’ll have to buy those silly looking twisted light bulbs and nail our lamps to the table, so they won’t fall off and break the bulbs and release the mercury. And, if the bulbs DO break, we might have to call HAZMAT to clean up the mercury and make our homes safe again. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.