You Can Thank Congress for the $60 Light Bulb

Congress passed laws that ban the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs because our leaders know what is best for us.  100 watt incandescent bulbs cannot be manufactured in the U.S. now and beginning in 2014 the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs of 40 watts or greater will be banned.  The U.S. Department of Energy had a contest called “Bright Tomorrow” for manufacturers of energy efficient alternatives to the 60 watt bulb.  Guess what?  Only one company entered the contest and it was a Dutch company.  Yes, it was the winner.

BBC News:  “Made by Dutch electronics giant Philips, the bulb swaps filaments for light-emitting diodes to provide illumination.  Using LEDs endows the light with a long life and a hefty price tag. The first versions are set to cost $60.”

I just counted 25 60 watt light bulbs in my house.  At $60 a bulb I would pay $1,500 to replace those bulbs.  The simple result of this ban on incandescent bulbs will be that people will have fewer light fixtures because they cannot afford the new high tech bulbs.  Congress and other state and local governments now routinely pass laws and ordinances that take away our freedoms.

Energy Department Offers $100,000 to Create Mobile Apps that Already Exist

The Daily Caller:  “The Department of Energy announced Thursday a $100,000 prize for software developers to come up with mobile applications to tell consumers how much energy they are using.  But there’s already an app for that.  A quick scan of the iTunes and Android markets shows nearly two dozen existing applications that accomplish the same purpose — helping users keep track of their energy consumption at home.”

World’s Largest Solar Plant, With Second Largest Ever Department of Energy Loan Guarantee, Files For Bankruptcy

ZeroHedge:  “Solyndra was just the appetizer. Earlier today, in what will come as a surprise only to members of the administration, the company which proudly held the rights to the world’s largest solar power project, the hilariously named Solar Trust of America (“STA”), filed for bankruptcy. And while one could say that the company’s epic collapse is more a function of alternative energy politics in Germany, where its 70% parent Solar Millennium AG filed for bankruptcy last December, what is relevant is that last April STA was the proud recipient of a $2.1 billion conditional loan from the Department of Energy, incidentally the second largest loan ever handed out by the DOE’s Stephen Chu. That amount was supposed to fund the expansion of the company’s 1000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project in Riverside, California. From the funding press release, “This project construction is expected to create over 1,000 direct jobs in Southern California, 7,500 indirect jobs in related industries throughout the United States, and more than 200 long-term operational jobs at the facility itself. It will play a key role in stimulating the American economy,” said Uwe T. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Solar Trust of America and Executive Chairman of project development subsidiary Solar Millennium, LLC.” Instead, what Solar Trust will do is create lots of billable hours for bankruptcy attorneys (at $1,000/hour), and a good old equity extraction for the $22 million DIP lender, which just happens to be NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, another “alternative energy” company which last year received a $935 million loan courtesy of the very same (and now $2.1 billion poorer) Department of Energy, which is also a subsidiary of public NextEra Energy (NEE), in the process ultimately resulting in yet another transfer of taxpayer cash to NEE’s private shareholders.”

Detroit High School Protest: Students Suspended After Demanding ‘An Education’

Huff Post:  “About 50 students were suspended Thursday from the all-boys Frederick Douglass Academy in Detroit, Mich. for walking out of classes in protest, demanding ‘an education.’  Among their complaints: a lack of consistent teachers, the reassignment of the school principal, educators who abuse sick time and a shortage of textbooks.  ‘We’ve been wronged and disrespected and lied to and cheated,’ senior Tevin Hill told the Detroit Free Press

Government’s Power to Regulate the Internet

Estate of Denial:  The Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez provides important perspective regarding public outcries over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) by reminding of how the FBI already has significant power when it comes to internet regulation. That certainly doesn’t mean that apparently successful protests over these two acts weren’t a good thing, but Sanchez uses a Justice Department action that took place just last week to illustrate his point. From FBI Reminds Us Government Already Has MegaPower to Take Down Websites:

Online activists were still busy celebrating a successful day of protest against proposed (and now shelved) Internet censorship legislation when the Justice Department pulled the popular cyberlocker site Megaupload offline Thursday, and indicted its owners on charges of criminal copyright infringement. It was a serendipitously timed demonstration of two important facts.

Continue reading about the government’s power to regulate the internet.

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