Thank you for your assistant/iStock via Getty Images
Thank you for your assistant/iStock via Getty Images
The Biden administration is doing away with old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs, 143 years after Thomas Edison patented the first commercially successful one in 1879. The move is aimed at making good on climate promises with the hope of preventing 222M tons of planet-warming carbon pollution from being emitted over the next three decades. The ban will impact incandescent bulbs that produce less than 45 lumens per watt, raise energy efficiency standards for various types of general service lamps, and eventually eliminate halogen bulbs as well.
Backdrop: The phaseout of incandescent bulbs was on track to begin in 2019 under a previous law that was signed during the Bush administration. Former President Donald Trump subsequently rolled back the requirements of more energy-efficient lightbulbs, citing factors like "protecting consumer choice" and ensuring Americans "do not pay the price for unnecessary overregulation from the federal government." Under the new order, the Department of Energy announced that most of America is already using LED lights, which are said to use one-fifth of the energy of incandescent bulbs and last up to 50 times longer.
"The lighting industry is already embracing more energy efficient products, and this measure will accelerate progress to deliver the best products to consumers and build a better and brighter future," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. "By raising energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs, we're putting $3B back in the pockets of American consumers every year and substantially reducing domestic carbon emissions." The Energy Department also detailed that it will allow companies to import non-compliant bulbs until January 2023 and permit companies to sell them until July 2023.
The critics: Lower-end retailers, like dollar and convenience stores, tend to stock their shelves with cheaper incandescent and halogen bulbs, meaning lower-income communities could be impacted (though they may save on LED bulb costs in the longer-term). Some manufacturers also claim the rapid change will damage their bottom lines or may lead to an excess of inventory that would no longer be eligible for sale. As of 2020, about 30% of all light bulbs sold in the U.S. were still incandescent or halogen, though sales of LEDs have been increasing.