Let there be light…

The House of Representatives has done another silly thing: Republicans are trying to pick a fight with the "energy police."

I'm rooting for the "energy police."

Seems that during the Bush administration, back in 2007, the federal government approved some efficiency standards that included regulations for light bulbs, requiring that the familiar incandescent bulbs eventually must be replaced with higher efficiency bulbs like the curly fluorescents.

"Eventually" is getting to be "now," and Republicans led by Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas are making some political hay again by trying to prevent the phase-out of the cheaper incandescents. The new fluorescents cost more, but they last so much longer that they're cheaper in the longer run, and they use less energy.

Sounds like a no-brainer: costs less, energy-efficient, everybody benefits because everybody uses light bulbs, manufacturers like GE already have started switching their production lines to the new type of bulb.



Burgess says "people are sick of the government treading where it just doesn't belong," and "I'm smart enough to make my own decisions about the purchase of energy." He mocked government "enforcement" of the bulb change-over: " 'We don't need no stinkin' badges. We're the energy police.' "

I submit that Burgess may not, in fact, actually be smart enough to make his own decisions about the purchase of energy. By opposing energy-efficient bulbs, he certainly isn't making a smart decision for America and Americans. He didn't mention how he feels about government standards for fuel efficiency in cars and trucks.

I think we do need smart "energy police," both government and industry working together, working on our huge problems with dependence on foreign sources of oil and inefficient energy production by dirty coal-fired generating plants, for example.

But I do agree with Burgess on one point: We don't need any of those stinkin' badges.