Members of the US House of Representatives have inserted a light bulb rider in the 2014 omnibus spending bill that would prohibit the Energy Department from enforcing the light bulb standards enacted in 2007.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) says that US manufacturers such as GE, Philips, and Sylvania have complied with the standards and consumers are already reaping the savings from the more efficient bulbs.
The ACEEE also says the rider could endanger jobs as manufacturers have invested in US factories to make the compliant halogen incandescent light bulbs. Since the rider prohibits enforcement of the standards, it opens the door to foreign lighting factories and importers that would seek to sell substandard, energy-wasting bulbs.
