JohnFranTay has written an article about light. 2018 a Major manufacturing company is producing, manufacturing, and selling light bulbs produced in the United States, finally. The US will now be secure in the ability to produce their own light. Here is the article:
ENLIGHTEN AMERICA
© By John F. Taylor
So, I am standing in Home Depot in front of a wall of light bulbs. The eight hundred lumens bulb I had purchased to place beside my nest in front of the television makes it almost impossible to read a book or the newspaper.
My mind wondered to the year 1968, the year of my first home. It cost $18,000.00 dollars. My mortgage payment was eighty dollars a month. I received my first electric bill and was surprised to see a coupon for light bulbs, FREE. It stated basically from the fragrance of my memory, “Take this coupon to your local electric office, along with a copy of your current month’s bill and receive new light bulbs, “no charge.”
Back at Home Depot; I was gently nudged with a shopping cart by a young coughing lady wishing to get by in the narrow isle. I am a bit bulky these days.
“Sorry,” she said. I smiled as well as a retired man with light bulbs on his mind could at the time.
I said, “Sorry, I zoned out remembering when you could get free light bulbs from the electric company.” She looked at me like I might turn into a flesh eating zombie.
“Yeah, sure,” she said and rolled off toward the appliance department shaking her head.
The moral of this story, Shit Happens. Our government decided that to produce electric bulbs it would create regulations that would reduce the air pollution from the coal fired plants that were currently producing light bulbs. What they didn’t realize was the new regulations would make it impractical if not impossible to manufacture them in the United States.
The wall of bulbs I was standing in front of was thirty feet long (that was a quick walk off) and twelve feet high with storage for more above the open shelves. My reach to top of finger tips exactly eight feet, at least when I was younger. I guessed there was an additional four feet. I bought the brightest bulb I could find and checked out at $11.25. If I did the math I figured, roughly with no accuracy at all the store stocked on open shelves well over one hundred thousand bulbs.
“Cash, first time today,” said the cashier.
“You don’t give these away free if I bring my electric bill in do you?” I said it with a somewhat smile, not my smart ass leer that sometimes pops up and embarrass my wife when I am wigged out about some nasty thing that a retailer has done to me at no fault of their own. She actually did a double take, and then saw the smile.
“Funny,” she says. She smiles realizing we are having fun and I am not just one of the old geezers wondering around the Home Depot with a tool or bolt fetish.
“I was just thinking that GE used to be an American company,” I said.
The smile disappeared and she handed me my change and gave the “move it buddy there is a line,” look.
When I returned to my man nest in the corner of the living room, I installed the twelve dollar bulb. I was almost nauseated by the yellowish bright glow of the new bulb. It was brighter, but that glow just pissed me off. I pulled out my trusty laptop, plugged in the little buss light aperture that cost me three bucks at one of Fry’s Electronics special code days so I could see the key board better.
Just so you know it took awhile for the laptop to fire up. I hadn’t turned it off but this sucker didn’t just go to sleep it goes into a coma. After hitting almost every key on the pad the password page came up. I quickly typed in my password and it came up wrong. Note: YOUR CAP LOCK IS ON. In my ambitious moves to wake this turkey up I hit the Cap Lock.
Finally with Internet flagged I hit my Google shortcut and low and behold it was sleeping to, opps no, it was doing some silly thing with “script running” so I hit the stop script button and waited another minute for the Google bar to come on.
My first search, “How many Home Depots are there?” The answer was 2,274. Multiply that by 100,000 bulbs may average two bucks a piece. My calculator wouldn’t go that high. And today I spent $12.25 for one bulb I would have gotten for free in my first home.
My second search was “how many coal fired plants does China have making light bulbs.” Well, I didn’t take the time to find the number but I did find an interesting article in the Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html
One portion mentions this: The Chinese government has been reluctant to approve the extra spending. Asking customers to shoulder the bill would set back the government’s efforts to protect consumers from inflation and to create jobs and social stability.
But each year China defers buying advanced technology, older equipment goes into scores of new coal-fired plants with a lifespan of up to 75 years.
“This is the great challenge they have to face,” said David Moskovitz, an energy consultant who advises the Chinese government. “How can they continue their rapid growth without plunging the environment into the abyss?”
In my little man nest I am starting to sweat. I know my blood pressure is up and a low grade headache is starting to throb. Then my browser stops responding. I hit F5, restore. Now a bar pops up and it says “stop script” again. I’m about to start hyper-ventilating, but instead I go get an orange, hoping peel time will give the laptop time to relax.
I return to the laptop, and now that little blue circle is running around in circles. I save and hit the off button. Not a proper exit but I can’t do it any other way because that little blue freaking circle is running on every control bar. I take a breath and let it rest a minute and turn it back on. Nothing! I remember a trick for when your computer won’t boot. I removed the battery and waited a minute. Turned it off again. Waited again. Press the power button without the battery attached for a count of thirty. Walla, it came on.
I waited till my breath stabilized and started Explorer. The dreaded blue circle was throbbing in my head. I reattached the battery. Explorer came on. Whew, I can’t afford a new computer, I live on SSI. (another story) So I searched.
https://www.epa.gov/hw/establishing-recycling-program-mercury-containing-light-bulbs#Step6
Ok, the EPS is talking about my “light bulb recycler.” I don’t have a light bulb recycler, DO YOU? You read the EPA BS and you are going to need a Valium. Do you have special containers for your used light bulbs? Do you have your Light Bulb Recycler come and pick up those special containers for disposal? Did you know they have MERCURY in those bulbs? You get the idea.
Before I need a psychiatrist I am going to sum up my thoughts. If I went in the hospital my first nine days would be $287.00 a day. I can’t afford it. Thanks Obama care. So I am going to sum up the results of my short investigation into light bulbs.
- The government increased regulations so much the manufacturer’s had to go overseas to China.
- The government closed up the already regulated fire coaled plants making bulbs in the US.
- Thousands of jobs lost.
- China has no regulations and built six to ten coal fired plants to build bulbs and cause more pollution without regulations. (with dirty coal)
- The new bulbs have mercury in them.
- They must be treated as Hazardous Waste.
- The cost of the bulbs went up several hundred percent.
- The Chinese took over a multibillion Thomas Edison product.
- The air pollution in China is soaring.
- Tons of hazardous waste is being created made in China and sold in the US.
- The air over the US is cleaner.
- Greeny weenies are definitely proud.
So, after all these disgusting results, what should we do next? The answer is simple. Seattle and Oregon air monitoring devices are picking up more chemicals on their monitors. So all we need to do is learn how to control the Trade Winds. Why, because this entire exercise in trying to help the environment has made things worse. And if we maintain manufacturing we will control the quality of the air much better than China.
Sleeping that night I had dreams of a Chinese freighter sinking loaded with half a billion light bulbs all exploding at the same time. Swim fishes swim.
Then my dream floated to:
Fukushima Daiichi Status Updates
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/status-update
I woke up as I was going into the Fish & Chips restaurant with my newly purchased Geiger counter from Amazon for a $190.