Australia to ban incandescent light bulbs
I'm a big fan of Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, who is as stalwart an ally as the United States could hope for in a world where too often those whose freedoms came at the price of American blood view the U.S. as an enemy. So it's disappointing to see his administration jump on the greenhouse gasbag bandwagon, deciding to ban incandescent light bulbs in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
When the government can decide for you what kinds of light bulbs you may or may not purchase, that's a pretty strong indication that government has:
And from a practical standpoint, what makes government the correct arbiter of which kinds of lightbulbs people can purchase? What innovations may never come to market because of the thumb Australia will be placing on the scale? And just who is going to help those at the low end of the income scale afford these more expensive bulbs? Will the Australian government also subsidize the cost for low-income families? And if so, who pays for that?
There have been a number of times recently when I wondered whether perhaps our Aussie allies weren't a little more rational than the U.S., for example when they recently did away with a government agency for "multiculturalism" (OK, it was just a name change, not an elimination, but still). But given this news, today is not one of those times.
When the government can decide for you what kinds of light bulbs you may or may not purchase, that's a pretty strong indication that government has:
- More power than is healthy
- Run out of important things to do
And from a practical standpoint, what makes government the correct arbiter of which kinds of lightbulbs people can purchase? What innovations may never come to market because of the thumb Australia will be placing on the scale? And just who is going to help those at the low end of the income scale afford these more expensive bulbs? Will the Australian government also subsidize the cost for low-income families? And if so, who pays for that?
There have been a number of times recently when I wondered whether perhaps our Aussie allies weren't a little more rational than the U.S., for example when they recently did away with a government agency for "multiculturalism" (OK, it was just a name change, not an elimination, but still). But given this news, today is not one of those times.