Monday, May 02, 2011

o'cap'n tax - $2,000 to change a Light Bulb: SB395 & HR6411

From: ConservativeActionAlerts Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 Subject: $2,000 to change a Light Bulb
     Next year, the lightbulbs you use will be obsolete - thanks to Obama and the hysterical global warming crowd.
     The Left claims our current incandescent light bulbs cause global warming, so they have outlawed the bulbs you currently use and will require you to purchase compact fluorescent lighting next year - which is toxic and contains mercury.
     Please read this very important message from our friends at the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, and find out how you can prevent Obama from changing your household into a hazardous materials site.
     Sincerely, Tony Adkins, Conservative Action Alerts

     Four years ago---in 2007, the newly-installed Pelosi-Reid Democratic majority in Congress began implementing what is a global agenda to rid the world of the incandescent light. The 110th Congress' environmental agenda began with one piece of legislation that suggested the world's worst environmental polluter might have been a guy named Thomas Edison whose invention, the electric light--they claimed--causes global warming.
     By outlawing incandescent lights in favor of compact fluorescent lighting, the environmentalists said the country would reduce energy consumption by $18 billion a year, or save consumers between $80 to $180 on their electric bills per year. The plus for the globalists? They said it would reduce global warming because one of the causes of global warming is...you guessed it...the old fashioned Tom Edison light bulb
     Barack Obama wants to physically change the way you live---including the type of light bulbs that you use in your home. NEXT YEAR your light bulbs will be obsolete. You will be mandated by federal law to get rid of your existing light bulbs---all for the sake of the preventing, or minimizing global warming (even though scientists today are telling us we are entering into a solar cooling phase that will drop the average temperatures on Earth for the next 30 to 80 years).
     If he had been watching the stealth movement by environmentalists to outlaw the incandescent light bulb in favor of compact fluorescent light bulbs [CFL] worldwide, Thomas Edison would have been doing angry cartwheels in his grave. In 1997, as the world listened to ecoalarmist Al Gore Jr.'s rant about light bulbs as one of the sources of global warming, General Electric was applying to the U.S. Department of Energy on Mon., Dec. 15, 1997 for an advanced waiver of domestic and foreign invention rights on CFLs under DOE Contract # DE-FC36-97G010236, waiver W(A)-07-024, CN-0929.
     Enough is enough. Like you, I am tired of Mr. Obama telling me how to live my life. Next year you will be required to trade in---whoops...throw away...your trusty incandescent light bulbs so you will supposedly be "environmentally-safe" with much more expensive Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs). I say "supposedly" because the one thing the CFLs are not is "environmentally safe." Just ask Ellsworth, Maine housewife, Brandy Bridges, who dropped and shattered a compact fluorescent light bulb on the carpeted floor in her daughter's bedroom. Aware that CFLs are potentially hazardous, Bridges called the local Home Depot store to ask for advice. Home Depot told her that the CFL contained mercury and advised her to call the Poison Control hotline. Now remember, this is the replacement to the electric light bulb you've used for your whole life. You know...you drop one on the floor. It breaks. What do you do? Get a broom and dust pan and sweep it up. What happened when Brandy Bridges called the Poison Control hotline?
     The hotline had her contact the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP sent Andrew Smith, a toxicologist, to her home. He sealed the room with plastic and told Bridges it would cost about $2,000 to clean up the mess from the one toxic $3 CFL devise that broke on her floor. The levels of mercury toxicity in the downstairs living area were safely under 300 mg/m3. However, the mercury levels spiked to 1,939 mg/m3 in Shayley Bridges' bedroom. Bridges' daughter could not sleep there because of the toxicity levels were too great. Bridges, a single mom with an overcrowded house and limited financial means, filed a claim with her homeowner's policy. The insurance company denied the claim because mercury is a pollutant that wasn't covered in her homeowner's policy. Smith said he believed the contamination was localized at the spot where the bulb broke, adding that mercury is dangerous to anyone who has experienced long term exposure to the chemical element - and, it's expensive to the homeowner who has the misfortune to break a CFL in their home--$2,000 expensive to be exact.
     The Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection and Energy Efficient Act of 2007 included new lighting efficiency standards. The new law will phase out the use of 100W and 75W incandescent light bulbs by next year. This is not only outrageous, it's insane!
     U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), answering frustrated letters and emails from a majority of Americans who are against the "green" CFLs, introduced Senate Bill 395 the BULB ACT (Better Use of Light Bulbs) that would repeal the standards that limit choice which the Democratically-controlled Congress included in the 2007 "bad energy law." Representatives' Joe Barton (R-TX), Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have also introduced similar legislation in the House (H.R. 6411).
     Mr. Obama's socialistic agenda continues to move forward. A silly little light bulb is merely a small piece of the larger puzzle of global socialism that he feels is his agenda to enslave the American people - and to choke Americans from a free enterprise system! 
Immediately, we must push our United States Congress to REPEAL the 2007 green energy benchmark that would require every American to buy CFLs! Coercing tax-paying Americans to buy expensive and toxic CFLs is NOT the answer to our energy shortage!
     Most Republican Senators support Senator Enzi's bill, which has 27 Republican co-sponsors. Many Democrats where cajoled into believing that the original "green energy" bill will eliminate many greenhouse gasses and be friendlier to the environment. However, the new light bulbs will cost roughly SIX TIMES the cost of the light bulbs we now use. According to a US News and World Report study, "Each cone-shaped spiral CFL costs about $3, compared with 50 cents for a standard bulb."
     But, according to bill sponsors, it has nothing to do with the best bulb, the costs, or even scientific data. Backers of the REPEAL say that it is all against the government dictating what you can and cannot do in the privacy of your own home. The BULB Act is portrayed by its sponsor as a defense of individual's ability to choose what type of light bulb they prefer. It's all about consumer choice!
     U.S. Senator Enzi states: "If left alone, the best bulb will win its rightful standing in the marketplace." What a revolutionary concept. Free enterprise!
     Many legislators - and American taxpayers - would rather have the ability to choose, than to be forced to buy expensive, supposed "eco-friendly" bulbs that are not environmentally friendly.
     Echoing the sentiments of many Americans, California State Senator Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) urges: "I'm excited to hear they're working to repeal that (CFL laws) and give people options on what they think are their best buying choices, especially with certain need and certain unique light fixtures are best suited for other types of bulbs. People get around to saving money and saving energy when it suits how they like to see it, not when the government tells them how to do it. Score one for those fighting against nanny government."
     Many are also worried about the amount of mercury the new CFL bulbs have in them. According to an extensive article in The Mercury News, "The nation's accelerating shift from incandescent bulbs to a new generation of energy-efficient lighting is raising an environmental concern - the release of tons of mercury every year. The most popular new light - the curlicue, compact fluorescent light bulb, or CFL - accounts for a quarter of new bulb sales and each contains up to five milligrams of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that's on the worst-offending list of environmental contaminants."
     "Demand for the bulbs is growing as federal and state mandates for energy-efficient lighting take effect, yet only about two percent of residential consumers and one-third of businesses recycle them, according to the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers.
     "If the recycling rate remains as abysmally low as it is, then there will certainly be more mercury released into the environment, said Paul Abernathy, executive director of the Napa-based recycling association. "Until the public really has some kind of convenient way to take them back, it's going to be an issue."
     The US News and World Report also wrote about the mercury in CFLs: "Consumers are rightly concerned about the toxic substance mercury that helps CFLs produce light. Environmentalists agree that more work must be done on bulb recycling programs."
     Government has finally over-stepping their constitutional and congressional limits, and are now participating in a legislative "horror" story.
      The Democratic majority 110th and 111th Congress which did not need GOP votes to enact legislation, abused their privilege to govern. We need to fix that. Will you help us today to bring the 112th Congress back to their senses?
     Fax [your]  member of Congress and ask - no, tell them --- them to repeal the 2007 law by replacing it with S. 395 and H.R. 6411.
     Once again, the Obama administration and his far left "lieutenants" in Congress want to exercise POWER and CONTROL --- over YOU!
     How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?  It takes 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate.  Help put an end to governmental interference in our lives!  Help put an end to Mr. Obama interfering with free enterprise!
     Sincerely, Ron Arnold, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise Action Fund at
http://www.cdfe.com 

     P. S. I know you feel like I do in that government over-reach has already reached a "fever-pitch" in Washington. It is time to turn that around. And this includes giving us our regular light bulbs back that Thomas Edison invented . Help us to defeat the Al Gore "types" who want to control every aspect of our lives! Help us to CHANGE the thinking on the "Green DC Beltway."   Please FAX every Member of our U.S. Congress to urge them to vote for the BULB Act and H.R. 6411, so our lives do not have to be run by federal bureaucrats or environmentalists in the privacy of our own homes. This is a fight that must be fought to save the free enterprise system from the "green energy" advocates who don't care if "green energy" costs a lot more "green" than cost-efficient, and safe lighting. Please include a DONATION to the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise Action Fund, so we can help ensure that new and very costly "green energy" light bulb law is REPEALED in favor of more sane and sensible legislation.  Or SEND your donation to: Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise Action Fund, Dept Code - 5982, 12500 NE 10th Place, Bellevue, WA 98005 -- The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise Action Fund is a non-partisan education and advocacy organization that lobbies to influence legislation and mobilizes grassroots support for legislation that defends free enterprise.
Contributions to the Action Fund are not tax deductible.


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