Barry Edison Sloane, Thomas Edison’s great-grandson, condemned the Trump administration’s rollback of lightbulb efficiency standards that reduce energy consumption and save consumers billions of dollars each year.
In 2007, Congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed into law, efficiency standards that required manufacturers to begin producing lightbulbs that use less energy.
In 2017, the Obama Administration updated the guidelines to require additional bulb types – including three-way reflector, globe-shaped, and candelabra-style bulbs – adhere to the same efficiency standards as pear-shaped bulbs.
In February, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it would disregard the Obama update.
It is estimated that the rollback would increase consumers’ electricity bills by $12 billion a year by the year 2025.
“My great-grandfather, Thomas Edison, believed that all inventions, including the lightbulb, could and should be improved over time,” said Barry Edison Sloane, great-grandson of Thomas Edison. “In fact, he had over 20 patents on the incandescent lightbulb: each one an improvement.”
“Thanks to new technology, the newer lightbulbs are more energy efficient, lessen our carbon footprint, and save consumers money – innovations he would have championed,” said Sloane. “It’s unacceptable that the Department of Energy now intends to disregard commonsense innovations that have already been embraced in 80 countries and the U.S. for over a decade.”
“Edison would have agreed that, given the urgency climate change presents, this kind of action is like throwing gasoline on our burning house,” said Sloane. “I think my great grandfather might have had something to say about this, like, ‘Who’s the dim bulb who came up with this idea and why?’”
“Today, we stand together to call attention to a roll back of the federal lightning standard that could cost consumers billions, increase air pollution, and take us ten steps back in addressing the climate crisis,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “Federal light bulb standards may seem like a small thing, but in fact they have enormous impacts on our wallets and our environment.”
“These senseless attacks on smart and widely effective energy efficiency programs only further advances dangerous deregulatory attacks on our economy and environment,” said Potosnak.
Trump’s corporate giveaway will increase consumer electricity bills by $12 billion a year.