Light switch welcomed

Doug Clark’s Nov. 7 column expressed his distaste for the ban of incandescent lights.

In 2012, the government will completely ban the manufacture and sale of 100-watt incandescent lights. In 2013, 75-watt bulbs will be gone, and in 2014, incandescents won’t be available in the U.S. People will need to change to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or LEDs.

This ban was created to reduce energy use in the U.S. Only 10 percent of the energy used by incandescent bulbs is actual light. The rest is heat. CFLs and LEDs use all their energy to generate light and last much longer than incandescent bulbs. The light from energy-efficient light bulbs looks the same because they generate the same amount of light.

Clark is suggesting that we stock up on “illegal” light bulbs before they become unavailable, even though they waste energy to produce the same amount of light. Instead, we should use the ones we have, but then switch to CFLs or LEDs. This will save the earth’s resources (and will save money on energy bills in the process). If you want to follow Clark’s suggestion, that’s totally up to you. Just realize you’re ultimately harming the planet.

Ethan Reid

Spokane