U.S. Budget Amendment Would Gut Light Bulb Efficiency Standards, Send Jobs Overseas

Efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to undo energy efficiency standards for light bulbs could cost consumers $13 billion per year in savings and send jobs overseas. The standards were signed into law six years by President George W. Bush and have the support of all major U.S. lighting companies, but a budget amendment by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) would prohibit funding for enforcement. “Preventing [the U.S. Department of Energy] from enforcing the standards against imported noncompliant, inefficient bulbs won’t do anything other than sacrifice pollution reduction, help foreign producers, and cause U.S. companies to lose sales and suffer from a competitive disadvantage. It also will put jobs at risk in America, where some of the energy-saving bulbs are being assembled and manufactured,” Noll writes.