Ireland Bans Incandescent Light Bulbs
In a bid to save 70,000 tons of carbon emissions each year, Ireland announced today that it is planning to pass legislation banning incandescent light bulbs from store shelves. The ban is expected to be in place as soon as early 2008.
Ireland has become the first nation to propose legislation banning the outdated bulbs. Several other European Union nations, among them France, Holland and England, also hope to ban the bulbs within the next couple of years.
“By banning all wasteful lightbulbs within months, Ireland has shown the rest of Europe that it’s serious about energy efficiency and fighting climate change,” said Greenpeace climate campaigner Louise Molloy.
Greenpeace says that over the past year, a number of EU countries have talked about similar bans, but Ireland is the first to act.
This is a clear victory for the global Green movement. If the EU gets behind this in earnest, and it seems to be possible, Europe will lead a very important energy-efficiency charge.
Will the U.S, not to mention the Asian nations, ever take such a step? We hope that we can. For now, Europe remains just a little ahead of us in this issue.
