New Zealand to ban incandescent light bulbs in 2009
New Zealand will ban incandescent light bulbs in 2009, according to Energy Minister David Parker. New minimum energy standards would mean no fresh stocks of the bulbs could be imported from October 2009 and on. The government, the minority Center-left Labor government, has signed onto Kyoto and aims to make New Zealand carbon neutral.
Already, about half of the power in New Zealand comes from hydro-electricity and there is a hold on the construction of new thermal-generated power stations. However, more than half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from its more than 40 million sheep and nine million cattle.
With these light bulb bans coming up soon in many countries, I wonder what will happen in terms of exceptions, such as people with migraines and epilepsy who complain that compact fluorescent light bulbs exacerbate their conditions. Perhaps some stockpiling will be going on?
Already, about half of the power in New Zealand comes from hydro-electricity and there is a hold on the construction of new thermal-generated power stations. However, more than half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from its more than 40 million sheep and nine million cattle.
With these light bulb bans coming up soon in many countries, I wonder what will happen in terms of exceptions, such as people with migraines and epilepsy who complain that compact fluorescent light bulbs exacerbate their conditions. Perhaps some stockpiling will be going on?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-17-2008 @ 1:44PM
the goddess anna said...
We're slowly building up a stash of incandescents (say, if a bundle pack is cheaper on sale when we just needed one bulb). I get terrible headaches from CFLs, even the more pricey ones. We only use them in rooms I don't spend much time in (kids' rooms, spare bath), or in light fixtures that I just don't use (but my family does). We use natural light as much as we can anyway, and now that it's nearly summer we don't use our lamps much at all. The few cents we'd be saving by using all CFLs does not cover the cost of my medication or the cost of my discomfort.
When the day comes that we as Americans are no longer allowed to purchase incandescents, we will not be using CFLs either. If we can afford to do so, we will buy LEDs, if not, back to candles and oil lamps for us. I do not feel that it is legally within the government's role to force me to buy a product I should not (or simply do not want to) use against my will.
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6-17-2008 @ 1:52PM
Patricia said...
Thanks for your comment and sharing your view on this issue, very interesting. Perhaps in the case of outright bans, certain people will be permitted to buy incandescents if needed for medical reasons.
8-07-2008 @ 9:05AM
tui3 said...
NZ is going to have to do a lot more than change lightbulbs to become sustainable and reduce climate changing emissions. The real big GHG emitters in NZ are cars and cattle. But for years, these seem to have been politically untouchable. I went to a sustainability day in Wellington last year and a government person there told me that officials had tried to recommend eating less meat as part of a public sustainability initiative, but the powers that be had removed this from the list. And huge money is still earmarked (as far as I know) for building roads in NZ, while a tiny fraction of that money is spent on public transport, cycling, and walking. Beyond this, the NZ population seems to have increased rather dramatically in the last 10 years, partly I think as a result of NZ government policies, and this has placed pressure on infrastructure like electricity supply. NZ aiming for sustainability? For many years, NZ government talk on sustainability has seemed to me like lip service over an underlying rampant greed. Like putting lipstick on a pig.
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