Global warming plan would phase them out by 2009
MSNBC News Services
Feb. 20, 2007 -- SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia will be the world’s first country to ban incandescent lightbulbs in a bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with the government saying Tuesday they would be phased out within three years and replaced by compact fluorescent lighting.
By 2009, Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull told local radio, "you simply won’t be able to buy incandescent lightbulbs, because they won’t meet the energy standard."
Legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent, said Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Australia produced almost 565 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2004, official figures show.
Prime Minister John Howard said the plan would help all Australians play a part in cutting harmful gas emissions: "Here's something practical that everybody will participate in."
In incandescent light bulbs, perfected for mass use by Thomas Edison in the late 19th century, electricity flows through a filament to create light. Much of the energy, however, is wasted in the form of heat.
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