If energy needs to be saved, there are good ways to do it.
                                                               Government product regulation is not one of them

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Campaigns Against Light Bulb Regulations


[Renamed this to allow a possibly broader listing of anti-regulation action apart from petitions, and as petitions themselves may be the basis for other campaigns]

I have my doubts about petitions achieving anything on their own, however many the signatures - in particular in jurisdictions like the EU. Politicians, and the media, react much more to street protests for example.
That said, there are other advantages to petitions. The organizers of them may organize other activities with those who sign or simply keep them informed on the issues, and it may allow for general communication between those interested, depending on the set-up.



List of Petition Links

Will - gradually! - be updated by myself and others who help with this, on the accompanying "page" with similar title (see listing in left column).

Also, see other lists, for example on Gluehbirne.ist.org and Greenwashing Lamps, currently with German and Swedish ones but which may expand. Most of their particular links should appear here also, but others may of course appear.
Note that for most petitions, anyone can sign, see however the "About" section below for more as regards to how the EU authorities interpret petitions.

Otherwise an online search under "light bulb" and "petition" together with country name or language may yield an appropriate petition to sign, and anti-ban campaign to be involved in.



About

With the EU ban finalizing, a federal USA ban starting, and bans or "phase-outs"
in several other countries, one way to protest is obviously to sign petitions.

Petitions as a political instrument are a bit of a double edged sword.
Where they get few signatures, it may suggest a lack of public resistance, or even suggest a general public support for regulations.

This may be self-fulfilling:
The EU authorities have already made it clear in their much vaunted "Citizens Initiative"

The European Citizens Initiative will allow 1 million citizens from at least one quarter of the EU Member States to invite the European Commission to bring forward proposals for legal acts in areas where the Commission has the power to do so.
The organisers of a citizens' initiative, a citizens' committee composed of at least 7 EU citizens who are resident in at least 7 different Member States, will have 1 year to collect the necessary statements of support. The number of statements of support has to be certified by the competent authorities in the Member States. The Commission will then have 3 months to examine the initiative and decide how to act on it.

As seen the rigorous conditions and all the data required (name, address, place and date of birth, passport number or identity card number etc for the signatures) it makes it next to impossible to carry out.
That said, local country petitions can of course also send a message to local leaders, who might in turn influence the European Commission.

That not being so realistic, it at least allows people some outlet to voice their objections, and, as mentioned, for the petition organizers to organize other activities with those who signed, and/or allow for general inter-communication.


The last point of course applies to petitions in federal USA, local American states, and other jurisdictions also.
They also have a more realistic chance of success:
The more locally made the legislation, the more easy the communication with legislators, and the fewer the signatures required, in a relative comparison.

 

2 comments:

Halogenica said...

Talk about protecting their undemocratic power!

But what if the ban is actually illegal according to their own directive, due to not fulfilling the stipulated criteria?

(As happens to be the case here.)

http://wp.me/pLoIW-L

Then it should require no signatures at all since it is illegal in the first place?

Who watches that the law makers comply with their own laws?

Lighthouse said...

Halogenica's link again to click on:
http://wp.me/pLoIW-L
goes to Greenwashing Lamps important post about the EU Ecodesign Directive not being fulfilled by the instigators themselves.

Thank you, this really should be highlighted again!
Must post on this, given the time we are in, with the "final" ban on regular incandescents just announced...