This is a very good article by Nicolas Loris over at the Heritage Foundation on the destruction of economic activity and liberty that is being and will be caused by the coming ban on incandescent light bulbs, forcing consumers to use dangerous mercury laden florescent bulbs. But this is symptomatic of what can only be called the eco-nanny state. In the name of saving water, energy, and reducing CO2 emissions, the eco nanny state is telling us what kind toilets to use, what kind of washers and driers we can buy, what kind of refrigeraters we can buy, the size cars we can drive, etc. Loris, in his article, reports that at least some legislators want to eliminate this trend. He points out that “Representatives Joe Barton (R?TX), Michael Burgess (R?TX), and Marsha
Blackburn (R?TN) introduced the Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act
last week, which would repeal Subtitle B of Title III of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007?the phase out of the incandescent
bulb.” This is an effort that anti-nanny staters of all stripes should support. But as Loris concludes, this should just be the beginning. “Repealing the bulb ban would reverse what has been a long regulatory
attack on the American consumer. Producers and consumers do not need
government mandates and subsidies to be more energy efficient. If being
energy efficient saves consumers money or reduces costs for businesses,
they do not need the government mandates or the taxpayers? help.”
In other words when energy efficiency actually increases economic efficiency, which is the ability to get more output from fewer resource inputs, there is no need for government to impose it’s will on the American people. I would argue that if the government is mandating energy efficiency it is by definition causing economic harm by reducing overall economic efficiency.? But I would also argue that from the perspective of the eco-nanny statists, none of this has anything to do with either energy or economic efficiency. It is instead about social engineering. It is about making over society in order to promote the environmentalist vision of utopia.
