January 1, 2011 brings in new changes and a new low for our B.C. Provincial government, at least for those of us who wish to remain enlightened. Many months ago, the Liberals decided to enact legislation to make light bulbs illegal in British Columbia. Yes, you read that right: the light bulb, perhaps one of the most evolutionary and practical inventions of the millenium, is now a black market item in B.C.
The Liberals introduced their anti-bulb legislation along with a flurry of other motions. The official opposition, either not sensing any political gain for themselves, or maybe just not sensing anything at all, let this baby pass with minimal to no debate. Fast forward to 2011, and all of the sudden we have to find a way to live with this turkey.
To be clear, it's not illegal to own an incandescent light bulb in B.C., it's just illegal to sell incandescent light bulbs in B.C. The idea is that we are all supposed to convert willingly to CFL bulbs (Compact Fluorescent Light). The advantage the CFL has over the incandescent bulb is that a CFL will typically draw less power if left on continuously.
However, the CFL has some drawbacks that the government has either been unwilling or not caring to address:
- CFLs cost much more to purchase than regular bulbs, and they cost more to manufacture.
- CFLs cannot easily be dimmed. Many people use dimmer switches in their homes. Think of home theatres, for example. A CFL cannot be used with a dimmer switch.
- CFLs work poorly in the cold. Cold temperatures cause CFLs to produce less light and draw more power. Cold also greatly reduces the life expectancy of the CFL. It's not like we have all that many cold days in Canada, though...
- CFLs are stroboscopic. They tend to cycle on and off at around 60 times a second. This is faster than most people can see, but over time with use CFL cycles become slower, while prolonged exposure to fluorescent lights makes people more sensitive to their cycles. The immediate perception is that a CFL puts out a "cold" light, whereas incandescent lighting is usually regarded as "warm" light, closer to what we get from our Sun.
- Finally, CFLs all contain mercury, which is poisonous to the environment as well as to human health. CFLs can be recycled, but it is costly and dangerous to do so. As it happens, the government supplied to this date precisely and exactly zero facilities for recycling mercury from the CFLs. The media are reporting stories of people throwing the bulbs out in the trash, breaking them up, and using their household vaccuum cleaners to suck up the mess.
Now, along with guns and bud, B.C. will become a haven for ruthless light bulb racketeers in the underground economy. In the market for a black market black light? Someone will have to mule them in from Alberta, Washington, or some other distant municipality where you are still freely allowed to screw a bulb into a light socket.
It's not like we can do much about repealing the new law. The Liberal Party promptly disintegrated, which I guess does us citizens something of a favour. Trouble is, the opposition New Democrats also scuttled their own party, meaning that there is nobody left in office to complain to.
In an almost completely unrelated topic, my wife and I travelled to Victoria, B.C. for a brief visit. Victoria is the capitol of our province; there you can find the majestic Legislature Building. That's where the Government sits to pass its laws. Oh, and by the way, the Legislature building just happens to be literally covered with (you guessed it!) incandescent light bulbs:
Most sources cite that the building features over 3,000 exterior incandescent bulbs. Provincial tourist sources suggest the number is 3,333. I can't wait to see what happens when one of them burns out...
The picture here is a rotoscope I did of a public domain photo from an official B.C. government tourism brochure. I do have some of my own photos of the Leg at night somewhere, but it seemed easier to make up a custom piece than to go hunting for something I may have lost.
Foreign JSVB readers ought to squirrel away some extra lightbulbs for us. We need everything from the lowly 5 watt baby peanut bulbs for landscape lights, to your standard 60 and 100 watt workhorses, all the way up to the brilliant 300 watt klieg-like monsters we use in our torchieres (which have dimmer switches, naturally!).
Posts
