I think this is the most sensible public policy suggestion I've ever heard and there's no chance it will happen in my lifetime.
Where's the Environmental Impact Statement on Health Care?
You know how that the Congress in its infinite wisdom has outlawed incandescent light bulbs beginning in 2012 so that we will all have to use those corkscrew fluorescent bulbs with the lousy weak light that require hazardous waste disposal when they break or burn out and they burn out far more quickly than they are supposed to - all to save energy?
Well, Howard Brandston in the Wall St Journal writes Save the Light Bulb! is of the same mind.
Will some energy be saved? Probably. The problem is this benefit will be more than offset by rampant dissatisfaction with lighting. We are not talking about giving up a small luxury for the greater good. We are talking about compromising light. Light is fundamental. And light is obviously for people, not buildings. The primary objective in the design of any space is to make it comfortable and habitable. This is most critical in homes, where this law will impact our lives the most. And yet while energy conservation, a worthy cause, has strong advocacy in public policy, good lighting has very little.
He makes a brilliant suggestion, but calls it a modest proposal to try out in public buildings, congressional offices and in the homes of elected officials for 18 months
Based on the data collected, the Energy Independence and Security Act and energy legislation still in Congress would be amended to conform to the results of the test. Or better yet, scrapped in favor of a thoughtful process that could yield a set of recommendations that better serve our nation's needs by maximizing both human satisfaction and energy efficiency.
As a lighting designer with more than 50 years of experience, having designed more than 2,500 projects including the relighting of the Statue of Liberty, I encourage people who care about their lighting to contact their elected officials and urge them to re-evaluate our nation's energy legislation so that it serves people, not an energy-saving agenda.