Is this light's out?

Thomas Edison may have famously invented the incandescent light bulb, but that leading indicator of the industrial age is on its way out – or is it? In the pitched battle over energy use, the United States Congress has been wrestling with a law that was signed by President Bush in 2007 without much fanfare, but that otherwise innocuous law seems to have become of much greater interest lately.

At issue is the future of the incandescent light bulb. Under the current law 100 watt incandescents will be barred from the production floor by New Year's Day 2012. They'll still be in stores until the supply runs out. But that's it. No more hundred watt incandescents will be made for sale in the U.S.

Lower wattage incandescents will remain in production, but they'll be phased out over a two-year period. It won't be long now until American's will be reading by the warm glow of a cool running compact florescent bulb, or an LED lamp, or a hot and power hungry halogen, or a hot and note quite as power hungry halogen. Incandescents, the old standby that we all grew up with in our homes, will be out of the picture, however. Unless you hoard them now, while the store shelves are well stocked with them.

Or maybe not. As with anything that once existed and is being phased out by law, there is opposition. And while incandescent bulbs are famous for throwing off lots of light in exchange for a fair amount of heat, the debate that is raging in public these days is heavy on the heat, and lacking on the light. Misunderstandings of the law abound.

I certainly have no answer to the questions that rage around dinner tables and over water-coolers about which bulb is best, or even whether the cessation of most incandescent bulbs is a good thing or a bad thing. The theory of the law was to encourage the use of more energy efficient lighting sources. Although there are certainly those who will make more efficient choices when they change our their lamps, or their bulbs – there are others who will go the other way and select higher energy lights for their homes and offices.

People are people, where ever you go.

What will happen in the end? Who knows. Texas has introduced legislation that says incandescents made and sold within the borders of the state don't fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and so they believe they can continue to manufacture the big bulbs. Perhaps that initiative will gain steam. Perhaps not. Maybe other states will join in with a similar perspective. Then again, maybe this is much ado about nothing. It remains to be seen. No matter which direction it goes, you have to admit, it's an interesting show.

Who would have ever thought that it would be the lightbulb itself that was in the spotlight, center stage?