Edison Thomas The Light B

Let there be light

We are not – I repeat – we are not being forced to change the lighting systems in our homes to use those underpowered curly cue compact fluorescent bulbs that don’t shed enough light to read our electric bills. Legislation was never passed banning the use of incandescent light bulbs.

“Banning” is a very strong word. It implies that big government has stepped in and made the light bulb as Thomas Edison invented it, and as we have used it for years to illuminate our homes, illegal to own. This is another shining example of media manipulation of the facts.

We can thank Stuart Varney, of Fox News no less, for starting the media frenzy that has people across the country ready to bear arms in protest. When promoting his own show, Varney called Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn a hero for trying to get rid of the “ban on incandescent light bulbs.”

In less than five seconds, Varney single-handedly destroyed any hint of credibility the media might have for reporting the facts correctly.

As a result of Varney’s nationally televised gaffe, newspapers, television stations and Internet news organizations went into hyperdrive either supporting or opposing federal legislation that was erroneously reported.

The truth is quite simple. George W. Bush, late in his second term, signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The following is the most important fact:

“The legislation requires light bulb manufacturers to improve the efficiency of incandescent bulbs by 25 percent. The details of the law dictate a phase-out of the manufacture of certain bulbs in their current incarnation, beginning with 100-watt bulbs in January of 2013.”

The legislation does not the use or manufacture of all incandescent bulbs, nor does it mandate the use of compact fluorescent versions. The new law requires that companies make some of their incandescent bulbs work more effi ciently to meet a schedule of rolling deadlines between 2012 and 2014.

Additionally, the law has many exemptions. Three-way bulbs, silver-bottomed bulbs, chandelier bulbs, refrigerator bulbs, and plant lights are all exempt, as are many others.

According to reports from the industry, several manufacturers are already making new versions of incandescent bulbs that have the same lighting quality as the bulbs we have been using for generations. However, the new models us 25 to 30 percent less energy. This allegedly saves the average household an estimated $100 per year. Multiply that by the number of houses in the country, and the energy reduction is enormous.

Liberty Rose

We left Mom & Dad's house and headed for Ft. Myer later in the week to visit a quilt shop that is carrying some of my patterns.  Somehow I got excited in the shop looking at all the beautiful fabrics and forgot to take pictures.  So if you're in the Ft. Myer area, look up Quilt Lover's Hangout.  A super nice, friendly, well-stocked quilt shop.  Wish it were closer.  And after we left the quilt shop, we went to visit the winter home of Thomas Edison.  Look at all those light bulbs.  If you're near the Ft. Myers area, be sure to visit this place.  It was so interesting and there was so much history and things we weren't aware that Thomas Edison was involved in.  And beautiful homes and grounds to walk around.  There were these huge rubber trees all over the grounds.  Seems Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were good friends and once worked together.  They were trying to devise a better way to make tires for cars and were cultivating their own rubber trees for their experiments.  The trees were absolutely huge and all over the property along with many other types of trees that I'm sure were useful to them in some way.  I told my husband if our river birch tree had roots this cool, maybe we wouldn't have cut it down!  And after we got home we visited this general store in Durham that Pam from the Rusty Bucket told me about.  We decided to take a drive Saturday afternoon and find this place.  One of those stores that's full of stuff and you sort of have to search through or you miss something.  We had a good time looking at all the things for sale as well as the many things that were on display.  We made it to the ocean one day while at Mom & Dad's.  I'm afraid I can't do the sun anymore so I had about reached my limit here.  But the ocean was beautiful.  And we were able to see the space shuttle launch pad which was the main reason for heading that direction.  We just couldn't get as close as my husband wanted to get. And look what we found when we got home.  My bluebirds have hatched.  I can't wait to watch them grow and turn into sweet little bluebirds.  The Mama and Papa birds are hovering, feeding and watching over the babies.  They have several places in the yard that they perch and watch over the nest.  They have been great parents!

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