Once Again, America Falls Behind the Rest of the Civilized World
February 20th, 2007 | by Jersey McJones |From the Guardian…
Australia will ban incandescent light bulbs to help cut greenhouse gas emissions, its government announced today.
A complete and total ban…
Malcolm Turnbull, the environment minister, said replacing the country’s incandescent bulbs could prevent up to 4m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere every year by 2015.
Banning the bulbs would also help cut 800,000 tonnes from Australia’s current greenhouse gas emissions level by 2012 and lower household lighting costs by 66%, Reuters reported him as saying.
So much for the extra cost of the bulbs…
Mr Turnbull claimed Australia would be the first country to phase out the old-style - but Cuba launched a similar programme two years ago, and was followed by Venezuela.
Braggart!
“If the whole world switches to these bulbs today, we would reduce our consumption of electricity by an amount equal to five times Australia’s annual consumption of electricity,” Mr Turnbull added.
And it would be sooo simple…
Australians are, per head, among the world’s biggest greenhouse gas producers. However, climate change is becoming a major issue for voters as drought grips the country.
The greenhouse figure is news to me, but it doesn’t surprise me, as they must run a lot of air conditioning Down Under. I wonder if they can make flourescent air conditioners… Hmmm…
And so much for the Global Warming “debate,” huh?
As the boys at the University of Wallamalloo Philosophy D’paaartment would say, “Australia, Australia, Australia, Australia, We Love You, Amen!”
(I’m changing my name to Bruce…)
JMJ
4 Responses to “Once Again, America Falls Behind the Rest of the Civilized World”
By Mark on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
thanks for the “praise” JMJ, but get your Monty Python quotes right mate….WOOLLOOMOOLOO !!!
By Jersey McJones on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
Wait a minute - how do you know how it’s spelled???
Oh, right, you’re apparently an Aussie…
It’s not a real university, is it???
Oh my God - it really is!!! I just looked it up!!! (I always thought it was just made-up!)
Welp, my apologies. Next time I mention anything about Australia, I’ll look everything up first, because ya’ never know with you mates!
JMJ
By Paul Merda on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
The only issue with these bulbs is that they have some amount of mercury in them. Will all the bulbs the Aussies use end up in a landfill, contaminating groundwater etc?
By Jersey McJones on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
Well, most HID lights, like in street lights and flood lights, use mercury too, but with all these lights, the amounts are tiny, as opposed to say that old thermometers or neon lights. It’s a fair concern when you imagine everyone using them. I know in large industry and in big offices, the spent lamps are recycled with the vendors. Some kind of simple program like that - as we now do with batteries, for example, could take care of that. But even if you didn’t have that, modern landfill techniques could mitigate the mercury issue.
Good point, though.
Say, your name’s not really “Bruce,” is it?
JMJ