On an unrelated note, please, pah leese, stop with the politics. Most of the time, the reporting we hear from our media is so biased that we can’t rely only on what we hear from such sources to base our facts and form opinions. Start seeking truth, people.

I for one prefer to save my energy in other ways than living under the pallid glow of office lighting. Even the so called “warm white” CFLs make me feel like I’m living in a bunker. And the CFLs I’ve put on porch fixtures take about 15 minutes to come up to full output (by which time I’ve already been back inside for 14 minutes), and they invariably fail after a few months, presumably due to the cold. And then I’ve got to make a special trip to recycle them.

A tyranny of well meaning do-gooders is still tyranny.

In midwinter (when it’s dark at 4) the last thing I want to be looking at is flourescent light (ick)… I would bet that most of you guys are students, and only sit under fluorescents for a couple hours a day. I’m chained to my desk for most of the daylight hours under those bloodsuckers, and I like a bit of respite at home.

Banning incandescents is pure foolishness. If they were so great, people would switch voluntarily, but everyone I know has hung onto at least a couple incandescents. I have them everywhere in the house except the living room where I read and two 40 watts in the bedside lamps — btw, it’s a bad idea to have CFLs too close to your head – the EM radiation (within a foot or two) can cause cancer (same as cellphones)…

I don’t have to point out that a ban is pure foolishness from an environmental standpoint, since the number of energy-sucking appliances in people’s homes is rising rapidly anyway. I call shenanigans – pure political grandstanding, which will of course backfire when everyone blames environmentalists for making their homes feel like hospitals.

/rant – sorry.

Generating power from fossil fuels is inefficient. Most of the time you can expect efficiencies of 30-35%, with the best plants clocking in at 40-50%. Then factor in a 5-15% loss in power from line resistance. Since most of the world’s power comes from coal, you end up with a very inefficient heat source.

Unless you were getting your power from a clean source (Which you aren’t) you are producing more pollution from electric heat than from oil heat.

Aside from that, incandescents don’t provide any boost to efficiency due to the simple fact that the heat they produce must be removed when it’s not needed – such as in the summer.

Ireland isint in the Uk,It gained indepedance in 1921.Northern Ireland is in the Uk.This article is refering to the Republic of Ireland.

The Greens were not able to insist on much of their policies (for example on gay marriage) being included i the coalition government, so before you all start congratulating Ireland, it is well to be reminded how this govt is plagued by political corruption and may not last too long.

But who needs light bulbs at all any more? I haven’t turned on the light in my living room since I got my new big ‘ss TV…

Seconded.

Right now the US Administration is a pirate organization, doing what it wants without regard to the responsibility its machinery owes to the US constituency. The fact that no one has been impeached yet is proof that it has no regard for the laws it claims to cherish.

We the People are, in the main, in support of responsible stewardship. Don’t tar us with the same brush these fatheads deserve.

As a Canadian, I too fervently hope the action of “our” government at this conference (and on climate change and environmental issues in general) is not seen as representative of the wishes of Canada’s people. This Conservative (obviously “big C”, not “small c”) government’s position is anathema to the majority of Canadians who understand that without a functioning biosphere, no profits of any sort can be extracted. We cannot ignore that Stephen Harper’s government’s position is morally untenable and tacitly condones the inevitable environmental/climate genocides to come as an acceptable cost of doing business and generating so-called “wealth”.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2007/070927a.htm

1. The Government has proposed, as an illustrative schedule for the phase out of inefficient lamps, that retailers might want to follow:
By January 2008, cease replacing stock of all inefficient (General Lighting Service, GLS) A-shaped incandescent lamps of energy rating higher than 100W (predominantly 150W lamps).
By January 2009, cease selling all inefficient GLS A-shaped lamps of energy rating higher than 60W (predominantly 150W lamps, 100W lamps, plus some 75W lamps)
By January 2010, cease selling all GLS A-shaped lamps of efficacy of energy rating higher than 40W (predominantly 60W lamps)
By 31 December 2011, cease selling all remaining inefficient GLS A-shaped lamps and 60W “candle” and “golfball” lamps. (predominantly 40W and 25W A-shaped GLS bulbs, and 60W candles and golfballs).
At the moment, we expect candles and golfballs, tungsten halogen lamps and lamps supplied with non-lighting electrical appliances to remain on sale, because suitable energy-efficient alternatives do not currently exist.