Light Bulb Manufacturers Unhappy With Republican Intervention

U.S. light bulb manufacturers are displeased that Republican lawmakers have delayed efforts to introduce more efficient bulbs, a move that was supposed to have taken effect January 1. According to the Web site Politico, manufacturers like General Electric, Philips, and Osram Sylvania have been planning for four years to meet the new efficiency standards, which would have banned 100-watt bulbs and required other incandescent bulbs to be 30 percent more energy-efficient. But in negotiating a year-end spending bill last week, Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate included language that blocks the Energy Department from enforcing those rules at least until Sept. 30, 2012. Many Republicans argue that dictating what kinds of light bulbs Americans can buy is an infringement on their personal freedoms. But the National Electric Manufacturers Association has been urging lawmakers not to delay enforcement of the new standards, arguing that manufacturers have been planning to introduce new, more efficient bulbs since the passage of an energy law in 2007 under President George W. Bush that would gradually phase out incandescent bulbs by 2015.