Meet Mr Stinkypants!

 
Always interesting when support against light bulb regulations comes from unlikely sources...

Green and sustainability practicing Montana software engineer turned farmer, Paul Wheaton, has interesting Permaculture based forums that also happen to have good coverage of light bulb issues.

Also see his comprehensive CFL article, well linked with videos etc.

And don't miss his just completed (December 2011) Mr Stinkypants Cartoon on how manufacturers profit from the ban!

The cooperation between light bulb manufacturers is no fairy tale, reflected in the Phoebus cartel: GE, Philips, Osram and others cooperating for several decades to keep lifespans down. That is why even today the standard incandescent lifespan is 1000 hrs. Recent German research shows how a special "1000 hr lifespan committee" punished those who manufactured any longer lasting bulb. Communist long lasting bulbs were blocked for Western markets....

Unsurprising then, to see renewed manufacturer cooperation in later years, regarding both subsidised CFL programs and indeed regulations that more forcibly ensures that more profitable "energy saving" bulbs are sold in place of the old cheap incandescents.

Continuing the story, this kind of manufacturer cooperation with public authorities has now gone way beyond the USA or the EU: The world's 2 biggest light bulb manufacturers, Philips and Osram/Sylvania, are involved in the UN sponsored worldwide switchover program, en.lighten. As part of that, a recently announced "Efficient Lighting Toolkit" will be available in 2012, which will "provide comprehensive guidance to countries on how to transform their markets to energy efficient lighting". More in a later blog post.

Meanwhile, another spoof send-up of the goings-on behind the scenes to ensure the sales of CFLs, "The CFL Advertising Account" on the Send Your Light Bulbs to Washington blog, ensures that we meet Fred who says "Thank you Jim for landing the CFL United ad account. Let’s work out the ad campaign"... ...and indeed they do, with certain ensuing contradictions!