A story of choice, light bulbs, and politicians

Are you afraid of the government taking away your personal freedoms? Many Americans are—and with good reason. The Patriot Act, FISA, and the general behavior of our current administration is enough to make even the most red-white-and-blue-blooded American nervous. But do not fear, for there is a Congresswoman from Minnesota who has taken up the battle for American freedom. U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann is angry and she’s not gonna take it anymore.

What freedom is she fighting for, you ask? Why, the freedom to choose your own light bulbs, of course. Yes, there is actually a Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act.

Rep. Bachmann and 24 other representatives are fighting the Energy Independence and Security Act—the EISA will begin phasing out traditional incandescent light bulbs starting in 2012 in favor of the more environmentally friendly compact fluorescent bulbs. The fact that valuable government time, money, and effort are being spent on this debate is troubling enough on its own. What’s even more disturbing are some of Rep. Bachmann’s quotes:

"Most Americans, if you ask them, have no idea that the government has already made a choice for them," Bachmann said in a televised MSNBC interview. "The government has substituted its choice for the American consumer's choice. Most Americans have no idea they won't be able to choose their own light bulbs."

Or, if you don’t care about wasting 41 seconds of your life that you’ll never get back, you could watch her question the science of global warming.

Yeah, this is a strange story on several levels. The argument against fluorescent light bulbs is a fairly simple one: they have mercury that could spill and become potentially hazardous if the bulbs break. Oh, and I guess there is the argument that people have the right to choose their own light bulbs, even if it hampers our ability to become energy independent.

The first part of the argument is easy to refute: even the electrical and manufacturing industries side with the environmentalists on this one. The energy savings are real, on an individual level and on a national level. And the health concerns are way over-blown. As Julia Bovey, a spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says, “There is 200 times more mercury in each filling in Congresswoman Bachmann's teeth than there is in a compact fluorescent light bulb.”

The second half of the argument is, of course, silly. Light bulb freedom of choice is as ridiculous a concept as Rep. Bachmann herself. This is a woman who claims that any human connection to global warming is, “voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

Unfortunately, Rep. Bachmann’s strange crusade lays bare a fundamental truth about America: we do not like to change unless we really have to, and even then we like to come to that conclusion on our own. When the government tells us what to do, we kick and scream like a four-year-old who’s just been told to get ready for bed. It is the danger of over-legislating. You’re liable to get labeled a communist, or worse, a Democrat, for trying to do something that is in everyone’s best interests.

Might there have been another way to attack the problem of incandescent light bulbs? In an ideal world, you would tax the incandescent bulbs, and provide tax breaks for manufacturers who created the desired fluorescent bulbs. Then there is an economic incentive to buy fluorescent—it doesn’t take long to see the “choices” that people make when it affects their wallet. You’ll notice that it is the “American consumer” that Rep. Bachmann is trying to protect in her comments. It really is always about economics.

It is too bad that we are so far behind in the fight against global warming that we cannot wait for the market to drive change. That is no longer a luxury we have.

At least we can all applaud Rep. Bachmann for her tenacity. Maybe someone should tell her that there are a lot of freedoms that are far more important that we should be fighting for! Or maybe we can use my new favorite solution: send her to Greenland to see the effects of global warming first person.