Aunt Mimi's comment to my post yesterday may be even more relevant. On yesterday's NPR, they mentioned that the Assemblyman from Sherman Oaks had proposed to the California State Assembly a bill that would ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in the State of California by 2012.

WTF is going on with people????

I am all for the compact florescent bulbs. I use them. But only in places where the quality of light is not the most important issue, such as the closets and the hallway where the laundry area is. I know Ben has put them out in the garage. We have actual florescent bulbs in the under counter fixtures, but sometimes, you need nice light, and florescent light just does not cut the mustard.

I could see a bill that encourages the sale of the efficient bulbs, perhaps making them non-taxable at the register or imposing a "gas guzzler" tax on the currently much cheaper incandescent bulbs. But the outright banning of a product that is neither harmful or dangerous, but merely wasteful? How about starting with oversize SUV's, direct mail and plastic clamshell packaging? You might even get the SUV's and the packaging on the dangerous!

Was this guy just trying to get a little media attention during Earth Day Week? He is only going to end up a joke on the Daily Show.

Again, like the Eco-Socialites and Ms. Crow, I appreciate the sentiment behind these heartfelt and impassioned solutions. I believe in Think Globally, Act Locally. But as Mimi said, is it all just a smoke screen to keep up from focusing on the much larger corporate polluters?