Are Donated Light Bulbs A "Major Step Forward" For Virginia?

Yesterday Gov. Kaine applauded Virginia's electrical co-ops for donating energy efficient lights to Virginia State Parks, hailing it as "a major step forward" for Virginia.

Right now, Dominion Virginia Power, with Governor Kaine's blessing, is building a 585-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Wise County. This power plant will spew out as much pollution as nearly a million cars, roughly the same number of cars driven in the metro Richmond area. Calling the removal of 94 cars-worth of emissions a major stride for Virginia is, well, ridiculous.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Sumocat]

A step forward, but not major. The new coal plant, however, is not just a step backward. It's more like a tumble down the stairs.

[Meah]

I changed out all of my lightbulbs. I still have the old bulbs. I don't want them to go into the trash. I called around and nobody could tell me where I could recycle them. Just think about the millions of light bulbs that have been changed out. Where are they now?

[American04]

Banning incandescent bulbs is a major step, many countries have already.

Incandescent bulb base contains lead, plus the fuse is lead. The EPA says there is no safe level amount of lead; today we are still using mercury in our vaccines.

The average home has nearly 25 to 30 bulbs, replacing the incandescent bulbs with CFL will save the home owner $1500 to $2000. This is a good size mortgage payment.

[Snuffleupagus]

Americano, this is a "rock and a hard place" situation.

A few years ago I did a switch out of bulbs.
Only one of them appears to be a problem for me. Check out this link, and if you dare, test out the claims on yourself.
http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/globalshows/16x9/2009.01.04.segment01.html

I personally experienced several of these symptoms, but only from one bulb of several in my home, so I never understood why or made a connection.
After seeing the story at the link on TV news, I purposely got near the bulb in the room where I had the symptoms and they came back in less than 10 minutes.
All my compact fluorescent bulbs have been returned to the store where I bought them.

PS read the manufacturers recommended procedure for dealing with a broken CF bulb and see what you think.
There appears to be a randomness to how any given bulb will leak dirty energy. I'm not sure how to separate babies and bath water....but for now I am back on lead favoring a slow death over mercury shock.
Maybe I should consider the kerosene option.