CHANGE: Last GE light bulb factory closes. “It is doubly sad. The workers are losing their jobs, and we, who love traditional light bulbs are being deprived of a product we want. And those vile CFL bulbs? They’re made in China. Thanks a lot, Congress.”
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/105879/
The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense (bullchit). But the move also had unintended consequences.
Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.
Consisting of glass tubes twisted into a spiral, they require more hand labor, which is cheaper there. So though they were first developed by American engineers in the 1970s, none of the major brands make CFLs in the United States.
“Everybody’s jumping on the green bandwagon,” said Pat Doyle, 54, who has worked at the plant for 26 years. But “we’ve been sold out. First sold out by the government. Then sold out by GE. “
I starting using CFL’s as I replaced bulbs about a year ago. I’ve found that they don’t last any longer than the incandescent light bulb and some even burn out quicker. They work very poorly for outdoor spot lights that are motion triggered. My guess is that disposal problems due to the lead in them will cause more problems down the road.
FWIW Green Jobs are a myth… just ask Spain.
