... they'd pass a law mandating a common voltage, and connector for
charging mobile phones and bluetooths (etc). That way instead of
needing 8 chargers I could make do with one. Imagine the resources
you'd save if all phones shipped with no charger ... imagine the plug
sockets and extensions you'd save on.

I believe they are working on a standard USB-alike connector, heard it
mentioned about 6 months ago

Yes, its been done. A couple of years ago the Chinese government
decided that all mobile phones would need to have a common charger
interface, otherwise they could not be sold in China.

Soon afterwards, the USB organisation published the first
specification for a dedicated USB charger interface. At the same time
they specified the Micro-USB interface and made the Mini-USB
obsolete. Most newly designed phones use the Micro-USB interface and
can be charged from any Micro-USB charger.

A compliant charger has a link between D+ and D- in the Micro-USB plug
which is detected by the device being charged. Previously, different
manufacturers implemented their own incompatible schemes, often using
resistor networks on the D+ and D- pins, and sometimes adding
resistors to the USB sense pin.

John