On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:30:39 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

David Nebenzahl wrote:

And avoiding the histrionics of those screech about mercury with the
preamble "Thy Doom is Nigh!"

I don't begrudge the nay-sayers; such crusades give their otherwise
meaningless lives a purpose. I just wish they'd dial back the
decibel level and quit pestering normal folk.

Since you're so obviously of the "don't worry about that stuff--it
won't hurt you! It's just a bunch of namby-pamby enviros agitatin'
folks!" persuasion, why do you even bother to argue that CFL usage is
good because it reduces overall mercury emission by reducing coal
burning? Why would you even care about this? By your lights, we might
just as well go on using inefficient incandescents.

Where did I say that CFL usage is good?

I don't CARE whether CFL usage is good, bad, or smokes a cigar.

I was merely trying to illustrate the silliness of the hand-wringing and
chin-quivering crowd by pointing out we've been using florescenet lights for
over a century with nary a peep out of those who are now hopping up and
down.

As for using "inefficient incandescents," I don't care whether someone uses
legacy bulbs either. If pressed, I'd say let the market decide. If anything,
I'm opposed to the government mandating things that should be a market
decision: such as CFLs or CAFE standards.

I also feel the same way about child-proof caps; I want my children to have
all the same opportunities I had.


Sometimes things that affect all of us shouldn't be left to the
choices of individuals - or the market. That's why we have a
government run by people that we go vote for. Well, actually the
government is run by the wealthy and corporate power but at least in
theory it's ours.

Corporations have no morals and only care about its bottom line. I
don't trust them to make decisions for me.

The market for incandescents does not price the cost of using the bulb
into the cost of buying them. Lots of folks don't consider the total
cost of ownership. And those who rent or otherwise don't pay directly
for their power may not care that it's actually more expensive to buy
incandescents even though it's better for us as a society, country,
and world, that we use less energy.