~"And there were and are other ways to mandate energy savings for lighting. Retrofitting older commercial buildings, reducing outdoor lighting, reducing the amount of advertising display lighting used by "strip" businesses (look at the amount of lighting on a Wendy's or a Blockbusters sometime). We could reduce lighting energy use by beginning with users well able to afford it, instead of impacting those who can't afford it so easily."
I agree. Look at car lots, refineries, and other places. I can't use my telescope here because of all of the light pollution. Have you seen those night time satellite pictures of earth? Not many dark areas in the U.S. until you get west, then its bright again on the west coast. I remember 1979. We as a country conserved fuel by using fewer lights in homes and businesses, cities/states turned off every other street light on highways, etc. I belive Prague and other cities have actually cracked down on "light pollution" in order to allow people to see the stars and a little darkness.
In reference to the quality fade mentioned above, incanescents have been a victem of this too. I distinctly remember when I was a kid the boxes of 100W bulbs stating that they lasted 1500 hours, now it is down to 750 hours. The brightness (lumens) is decreased too. I switched to 130V bulbs. These are the ones marketed as 20,000 hour bulbs when run on 110V. Many places sell them for over $3.00 each, but my local hardware store had them in four packs for $1.50. When their supplier changed sources two years ago, I bought every one the store had. Most have lasted years, a few only two years. I have 9' ceilings and have to use ladders (not step stools) to change my bulbs. I'm now starting to use CFLs in my hard to reach fixtures since my supply of 130V bulbs is slowly dwindling thanks to one outdoor light that kept blowing bulbs - I checked and rechecked the wiring and can find nothing wrong, moisture can't get to it easily, but it could be condensation. The CFL is working perfect in this fixture.
The best incandescent light I have found is the cheap two pack (for $5) flood light bulbs I got at Lowe's (I think). Forgot the manufacturer, but it was a light green box. I had one last 3 1/2 years of 18-24 hour per day use (I had a light sensor to turn it off, but that area is shaded all but 4-6 hours a day, and on cloudy days it stayed on). It even survived a hurricane and only quit working because I broke it
As far as cars, modern trucks often only get 16-21 mpg. Compare that to my 50 year old inefficient engine (compared to todays capabilities) 5,000 pound '58 Buick which gets 15mpg with or without the A/C running. Many new trucks are actually lighter than my Buick - have we made any progress? An early 80's Chrysler K Car got 35mpg. New cars get about the same - any progress? To be fair, efficiency increases have allowed us to get a lot more power out of engines while keeping gas mileage about the same, so you can argue that we have increased efficiency. I like horsepower as much as the next man, but do we really need it for day to day driving?
Having said all of this, I personally do not like the government to dictate to me what I can use for lighting or even what I can drive. I personally believe a large part of energy waste comes from businesses (look at all of the lights left on all night at car dealerships, etc, etc.), not residential use. Just as I think a lot of air pollution comes from diesel trucks and buses, not gas cars - modern pollution standards are pretty good, but look at the brown-black crap coming out of big trucks, kinda looks the same color as the big city smog cloud doesn't it? Government doesn't seem to regulate the transportation industry on pollution and businesses as much on energy waste, just us regular citizens.
