THE DAILY BLADE: First They Came For The Toilets …
… then the shower heads, light bulbs, dishwashing detergent (penultimate item) and top-loading washing machines. Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, explains why if you like your top-loading washing machine you can’t replace it with another one in this Wall Street Journal op-ed:
In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair" or "poor." This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as "often mediocre or worse." …
The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency. …
The federal government first issued energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. When the Department of Energy ratcheted them up a decade later, it was the beginning of the end for top-loaders. Their costlier and harder-to-use rivals - front-loading washing machines - were poised to dominate.
Front-loaders meet federal standards more easily than top-loaders. Because they don't fully immerse their laundry loads, they use less hot water and therefore less energy. But, as Americans are increasingly learning, front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started.
When the Department of Energy began raising the standard, it promised that "consumers will have the same range of clothes washers as they have today," and cleaning ability wouldn't be changed. That's not how it turned out.
The ruination of top-loading washing machines occurred beneath the radar of American consumers, but “to many Americans, the 100-watt bulb has become a cause célèbre," reports The New York Times.
American protests against the encroachment of government have been spurred by many causes - tea, of course, and guns, frequently. The latest catalyst: light bulbs.
A 2007 bill, passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush, will make the familiar incandescent bulb subject to strict efficiency standards next year. …
The law does not outlaw incandescent bulbs or dictate that consumers must use the spiral-shaped compact fluorescent lights that have become increasingly popular in recent years. Rather, it sets standards for the amount of light emitted per watt of power used. Current 100-watt bulbs must become 25 percent more efficient, and makers are designing new bulbs. [Editorial Note: This is the exact MO the government used to kill off top-loading washing machines.]
Many Americans – The Stiletto included – have taken to stockpiling incandescent bulbs in case right-thinking Congressional legislators do not repeal the dim-bulb law.
Meanwhile, Congress is having a food fight over the compostable cups and utensils that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had insisted that the food vendor for the three main House cafeterias supply. Now that Repubs are back in charge they switched back to plastic forks and foam cups, because the “green” cutlery would often dissolve in hot liquids, and forks and knives could not even spear or cut a lettuce leaf. Nevertheless, the return to utile utensils has “enraged many Democrats,” reports The New York Times:
“Contrary to the objective of the program,” said Salley Wood, the spokeswoman for Representative Dan Lungren of California, chairman of the House Administration Committee, who moved to end the program, composting “failed to produce significant savings in carbon emissions.” On that score, she said, the total savings were equal to taking one car off the road per year.
The program took $475,000 each year from the fees that the House collected from the food vendor, Restaurant Associates, between the materials, labor and costs of hauling refuse out. …
Ms. Wood said that while the committee had found the composting program wasteful, it had come up with its own initiatives to “green” the cafeterias. At the Rayburn House Office Building, the cafeterias will soon begin to use reusable dinnerware, and the House will seek to have all of its solid waste sent to incinerator plants that create energy, rather than to landfills.
Wood said that Repubs would not support “environmental mediocrity at any price.” And neither will the American people.
Same Thing, Only Different: Part V
Texas Man Gets First Full Face Transplant In US
- The Associated Press, March 21, 2011
The Ken Doll Turns 50, And Wins A New Face
- The New York Times, March 21, 2011
Asked And Answered
- The Washington Times, March 8, 2011
Ralph Nader: Obama ‘Should Be Impeached’ For ‘Committing War Crimes’
- Mediaite, March 21, 2011
Asked And Answered (With Another Question)
Who's To Blame For Union Woes?
- RealClearPolitics, March 7, 2011
- The New York Times, March 6, 2011
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