"First They Came for the Lightbulbs..." - Mother Jones on Bachmann

First They Came for the Lightbulbs...
The conspiracy theory behind Michele Bachmann's war on energy efficiency.
— By Tim Murphy
Thu Aug. 4, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

Few issues get Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) going quite like lightbulbs. At campaign stops across the country, she has repeatedly denounced a 2007 law that required manufacturers to develop energy-efficient lightbulb varieties. Bachmann sees the law as an affront to American values. "I think Thomas Edison did a pretty patriotic thing for this country by inventing the lightbulb," she told a New Hampshire audience in March. "And I think darn well, you New Hampshirites, if you want to buy Thomas Edison's wonderful invention, you should be able to!"

In reality, no one's stopping New Hampshirites (or anyone else, for that matter) from buying any kind of lightbulb they please—even the incandescent variety that Bachmann warns will be outlawed unless we pass the Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act that she supported. (BULB would repeal the energy-efficiency rules.) But Bachmann's crusade is about much more than energy-conserving bulbs: The Minnesota congresswoman is part of a movement that considers "sustainability" an existential threat to the United States, one with far-reaching consequences for education, transportation, and family values. If Bachmann is right, lightbulbs will soon be the least of our worries.

Bachmann's concerns may have been best articulated in an interview she gave to the American Family Association's OneNewsNow in 2008. As Republicans in Washington revolted over the rising costs of gas, the then-freshman congresswoman outlined the stakes:

"This is their agenda—I know it's hard to believe, it's hard to fathom, but this is 'Mission Accomplished' for them," she said of congressional Democrats. "They want Americans to take transit and move to the inner cities. They want Americans to move to the urban core, live in tenements, take light rail to their government jobs. That's their vision for America."

more...
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/michele-bachmann-light-bulbs-agenda-21

:eyes:

till your sides ache!!! I think she'd be GREAT for a reality show!

um, doesn't Bachmann have a "government job"? What does that even mean? :crazy:

I've seen people have a bulb under the house in certain areas to keep the pipes from freezing. Do this carefully, of course.
Michele Bachmann remains a dangerous dim bulb however....

sales of standard incandescent bulbs are up 20% in advance of the phase-out.

There are a lot of people that just like them better.

That "lot of people" is mostly comprised of people that actually see conservation measures as somehow threatening and un-American.

They are the same way about the use of solar energy, wind energy and higher mpg requirements. Uninformed, ignorant people.

headaches... If I could get over that, I'd buy them all the time.

Of course there are exceptions.

There a lot of us who care about the environment and still prefer the old bulbs. The light is actually healthier, and they aren't full of dangerous mercury which in itself is a hazard to the environment. Maybe some uninformed, ignorant people buy the cfl's and toss them in the trash when they burn out but who's judging.

Those who care about the environment yet still favor incandescent light bulbs = 000025%

as a tool for educating people. Unfortunate, because they never do any actual journalism and look at the big picture, but instead present the press releases industry provides as the total "news".

"This is their agenda—I know it's hard to believe, it's hard to fathom, but this is 'Mission Accomplished' for them," she said of congressional Democrats. "They want Americans to take transit and move to the inner cities. They want Americans to move to the urban core, live in tenements, take light rail to their government jobs. That's their vision for America."

Yeah. What of it? It's called civilization. You'd prefer caves, or stone castles?

as long as it had central heat and air conditioning, and 200 channels of cable TV.

Most of them would covet a Govt job where they had good healthcare, good benefits, and a good retirement package. They are jealous that they work at 7/11 or Walmart and don't have good paying jobs or benefits and that their lives suck more.

I'm not sure they would want to use inner city public transit (inner city is a blowing the race whistle to the cowardly white folks who are afraid of anyone not white). However, the knuckle-draggers would use the high-speed rail transit as a cheaper alternative to get around, rather than flying or using their car/ gas to get around to places up to 10 hrs away. AND then of course they would utilize the city transit at the visiting locations to get around. They would also be the first one's to sign up for the group vacationing packages "see America" from the highspeed train. They would travel in their church packs around the US.. up North to do New England and out West to see the mountains, Grand Canyon, and National Parks. It would actually be a very useful investment for the United States to go full monty with the public transportation and high-speed rail to connect major cities around the country. AND once the knuckle-draggers got used to the easy-breazy public transportation that works well, then they would use it more than dragging out their cars to sit in traffic on their way to work. I mean really an hr or hr and 1/2 in your car commuting or a 30 minute commute on a trolly, tram, or subway system where they can use their little iPhones, computers, or read the newspaper while sipping on coffee on their way to work would become much more preferable to sitting in the car getting pissed at the traffic moving 5 mph down the interstate because there is a traffic accident or because its "normal" everyday from 6 am thru 9 am.

the Tennessee Valley would still exist without electricity. We can't have that imposing government tell us to have access to electricity. Or, all rural Americans should live without electricity or telephones because that government REA or RTA is imposing its will on the people. Or, we'd just have to continue to deal with polio and other diseases. We can't let the government do things like developing vaccines.

that Edison strove for efficiency. He was limited by materials and knowledge of the day, to be sure. Hell, he was the first advocate for electric cars.