Americans Hoarding Light Bulbs Ahead Of “Outrageous” Government Ban
Iconic Thomas Edison invention to be replaced with toxic mercury-filled, illness-causing CFLs by 2014 unless Ron Paul can lead successful fight back
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Americans have begun hoarding incandescent light bulbs ahead of a government ban next year that has been labeled “outrageous” by one pressure group as Ron Paul leads a charge in Congress to repeal the draconian state phaseout of Thomas Edison’s iconic invention.
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A 2007 bill signed in to law by President George W. Bush mandates that, “Manufacturers will no longer be able to make the 100-watt Thomas Edison bulb after Jan. 1, 2012, followed by the 75-watt version in Jan. 2013, and the the 60- and 40-watt bulbs in Jan. 2014.”
The legislation mirrors similar laws in Europe, where incandescent bulbs began to be phased out in 2009. The EU also plans to ban halogen bulbs by 2016, forcing people to use compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, which produce a poor quality of light with an attendant flicker affect that causes many people to become dizzy and ill.
“Neurologists are increasingly taking notice of the headaches and migraines being reported by people exposed to compact fluorescent light bulbs,” writes Mike Adams, noting that electromagnetic pollution caused by the so-called “energy efficient” bulbs is “causing devastating health effects on some people.”
The so-called “dirty energy” emitted by CFLs produces radiation that has been linked with migraine headaches, sleep abnormalities, fatigue, and other health defects.
CFLs are also more harmful to the environment because they are filled with toxic mercury that contaminates the environment when the bulbs reach the landfill.
“A report released in 2008 from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection revealed that when a CFL bulb is broken, it can release dangerously high levels of mercury into the air,” writes Ethan Huff.
“In Toronto, city officials require people to dispose of CFL bulbs at special hazardous waste facilities because they don’t want the city’s landfills to become contaminated with mercury. While used CFL bulbs are not legally recognized as hazardous waste, they are treated as such because they pose serious environmental threats when broken and released into the environment.”
According to a USA Today article, Americans have begun stockpiling dwindling supplies of incandescent light bulbs as the ban nears. Despite its best efforts to coerce subservience amongst Americans, the article discusses how people are buying bulk supplies of traditional light bulbs so that people “will be able to read in bed without squinting.”
Hoarders include Sue Larkin of Tulsa, who stated, “I can’t see a thing with the new bulbs and can’t afford them anyway,” and Susan Drake of Marietta, Ohio, who told the paper; “I have stocked up on enough incandescent bulbs to last for the next 50 years.”
Larry Lauck of the American Lighting Association also states that he has heard many “anecdotal reports” of people stockpiling traditional bulbs.
Forcing Americans to buy CFL bulbs that are harmful to their health and the environment is completely unconstitutional. Indeed, in a similar vein to forcing Americans to buy mandatory health insurance under Obamacare, it’s a clear violation of the Commerce Clause.
Americans are also being squeezed into buying the cheaper to run CFL bulbs because of skyrocketing energy costs as a consequence of the Obama administration’s publicly stated war on the coal industry, which has manifested itself through crippling EPA regulations that have mothballed the construction of new clean-burning coal-fired plants and shut down existing ones too, driving smaller energy companies out of business and allowing transnational energy giants with close ties to the White House to eliminate competition and create artificial scarcity.
The light bulb ban is also a foretaste of what’s to come as the enforcement arm of the eco-fascist agenda unfolds. As we have documented, enviro-Nazis envisage a future world in which car use will be heavily restricted, CO2 emissions will be rationed, meat will be considered a rare delicacy, the state will decide your career, and only the mega-rich elitists enforcing all these new rules and regulations will be exempt from them.
But there is hope in the shape of lawmakers who are getting ready to fight back, with a raft of measures this month aimed at reversing the ludicrous decision to ban incandescent bulbs.
“Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and 20 other GOP House members, including Texan Ron Paul, have already proposed a bill to repeal the phaseout. Other proposals are expected this month by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas,” reports USA Today.
“The light bulb ban is an outrageous government limitation on consumer choice and intrusion into the home of every American,” Myron Ebell, the director of Freedom Action said in a statement. “There is overwhelming public support that spans the political spectrum for repealing the ban on incandescent light bulbs.”
The group has launched a national grassroots campaign to repeal the ban on incandescent light bulbs and has invited supporters to sign a petition that will be delivered to Congress.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show.
