Light Bulbs

The Emperor has long been aware of the penchant of the Guild of Legislatures to dictate to the people how to live. The Guild has, in the past, told citizens what type of chemicals they can use in their refrigeration units, what type of toilets they can use, and now they dictate the light bulbs that must be purchased. These dictates are always meant to make life better for the citizen but often seem to make things worse.

One of the Guild's most famous dictates was to ban the chemical called DDT that was being used to stop malaria. Fortunately, DDT had already largely wiped out malaria in the American realm by the chemical by the time it was banned. Unfortunately, people living on other continents continue to die by the millions.

The refrigerant rule was meant to stop the destruction of the ozone layer. Whether the banning of freon has helped the ozone layer remains to be seen but the cost of replacing refrigeration systems back in the 1980's was very expensive for citizen.

The low flow toilet law passed in the 1990's made it illegal for people to use toilets that used 3.6 gallons of water. To conserve water, the low flow toilets that used 1.6 gallons were made mandatory. Unfortunately, the new toilets did not flush very well and citizens had to flush their toilets two or three times to make them work correctly.

Now, citizens are told they must use compact fluorescent light bulbs because they save energy. The CFL bulbs have a much longer lifespan than conventional bulbs but also cost much more. However, the cost savings from the low energy use is supposed to make them cheaper to use in the long run. The problem with this idea is that the bulbs only have a long life span if they are kept on for at least 15 minutes before being turned off. That is not a problem for outdoor lights but not practical indoors in a closet or garage. People turn on the light to see what they are after and then turn them off again a few seconds later. Using a CFL bulb like this shortens its life span by 80%--about the same as a regular light bulb. CFL bulbs also lose their brightness steadily during their life span making them next to useless after a certain age. And, of course, the CFL bulbs contain mercury which will in time pollute the water table. It is the Emperor's prediction that the CFL bulbs will ultimately use more energy and cause more pollution than conventional bulbs. Perhaps Al Gore should plant more trees.