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

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Green Police... Not Just in Germany!


As you may know, the police in germany wear green uniforms.
Unusual in an international context, it presumably has to do with historical reasons of wanting to avoid black, brown, or even red or blue...
In any case, given the particular attempts in Germany (and individual German states) to clamp down on incandescent sales as posted on before, the "green" uniform may come to carry a new significance.

See the Germans Dim View of Light Bulb Inspections from last month.

And not just green police in Germany...

While this video has been around a while, it seems to be becoming particularly relevant, with recent bans on incandescents, plastic bags etc in various countries and states.

So the video is about green police going around and arresting people for not living "green" enough lifestyles, including using incandescent light bulbs.
An Audi car commercial, as it happens...




The mentioned previous post had plenty more ironic images covering the theme, and the below video from the American Free Our Light campaign.

Bulb pushers likened to drug pushers
“Hey man wanna buy a light bulb?!”




4 comments:

Halogenica said...

Hehe, that would be quite funny if it wasn't our actual reality just around the corner. :(

Where did I read about the suggestion for software that would show all your neighbours' energy use in different colours so that a high user could be stigmatised as eco-villains?

OK, I'm not for needlessly wasting energy, but I'm against bullying and privacy-invasion even more.

Lighthouse said...

Thanks Halogenica

RE Where did I read about the suggestion for software that would show all your neighbours' energy use in different colours so that a high user could be stigmatised as eco-villains?
Yes where (!) though I'm sure a clever hacker would invert the colours somehow!

As for needlessly wasting energy:
"personal choice of product to use, not a waste of energy, needlessly leaving produccts on, a waste of energy"

Halogenica said...

Found this:

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/06/ever-wondered-how-much-energy-your-neighbours-use-289032/

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21810161

http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2012/05/my-neighbors-use-too-much-energy/

Lighthouse said...

Well played!

It's a reality then even...

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2012/06/ever-wondered-how-much-energy-your-neighbours-use-289032/
"A new service that enables you to compare your energy use to that of your neighbours has been unveiled by energy company First Utility."

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21810161
"Rocky Mountain Power made it easier for them: it's sending out a home energy report to help folks better understand their energy usage and demands and — and how you stack up against the folks next door."

http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2012/05/my-neighbors-use-too-much-energy/
"My Neighbors Use Too Much Energy:
I summarize our savings relative to the national average"
(so not against neighbor but still on similar theme)


Certainly, people might like to save energy:
But the question is if they need to be forced to, and how.
There are many new sources, and of course light bulb savings are a drop or two in the ocean of grid use anyway, as covered before and on the "Why the Ban is Wrong" summary page.