A Tiny Ray of Hope Shines in Washington

 

IBDEditorials.com

Regulation: We don't often find ourselves agreeing with what most lawmakers say, but this week was an exception when a congressman explained why he wanted to prevent a federal ban on traditional light bulbs.

"If the new energy-efficient light bulbs save money, and if they're better for the environment, we should trust our constituents to make the choice on their own to move toward these bulbs," Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said. "Let the market decide."

Imagine that! Trust consumers. Let the market decide. A common-sense idea that expresses basic economic principles.

But such simple wisdom is uncommonly rare these days among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The reason for Burgess' remarks stems from one of President George W. Bush's less-stellar moments, when in 2007 he signed a wrong-headed energy bill pushed by Democrats. That law, among other things, sought to ban the traditional, reliable and incredibly cheap incandescent light bulb.

Democrats planned to achieve this goal by imposing efficiency standards on light bulbs that those incandescents would never meet.

The rules were supposed to be phased in, first hitting 100-watt bulbs in 2012, followed by 75-watt bulbs this year and the 60-watts in 2014.

The standards would have left consumers with little alternative but to buy more-expensive bulbs, such as halogens, compact fluorescents or LEDs, when their old incandescents burned out.

In addition, as we noted in this space last year, a second and far more stringent efficiency standard is set to kick in by 2020 that even today's compact fluorescents couldn't meet.

All in the name of saving the planet.

Republicans suspended the rule shortly after taking over Congress in 2011, and they've kept at it since by denying the Department of Energy funds needed to implement the standard.

Interestingly, the GOP effort put a spotlight not only on the Democrats' desire to control every aspect of American life, but on crony capitalism run amok.

The suspension upset big companies like General Electric, Philips and Osram Sylvania that had been counting on the new rules to create a market for their high-priced alternatives.

But suspending this rule isn't enough. It should be overturned.