e360 digest
30 Dec 2008:
U.S. Rating System Fails To Credit
Most Efficient Light Bulbs, Report Says
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted its Energy Star seal of approval to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) with “unnecessarily high mercury levels and mediocre life spans,” according to a report by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group (EWG). Some types and brands of CFLs last far longer than others and have much lower levels of toxic mercury, the report notes, but the Energy Star program often fails to distinguish between the best and the worst CFLs. “Energy Star labels can be found on the most efficient, safest bulbs available, as well as on some of the worst, misleading the consumer and giving manufacturers zero incentive to make a greener bulb,” said EWG senior analyst Sean Gray. EWG called on the Obama administration to reinvigorate the Energy Star program and to create a rating system that rewards companies that produce the highest efficiency, longest-lived bulbs. CFL bulbs, which use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent ones, have been gaining in popularity; during the third quarter of 2008, one in four bulbs sold in the U.S. was a CFL.
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