Let There Be Incandescent Light! Bulb Ban Delayed!

[Above: Remy's "Missing You—The Incandescent Light Bulb Song," originally released on December 1, 2011]

The massive, 1,200-page omnibus spending bill being rushed through Congress to avoid a government shutdown include at least one small bit of good news: It suspends the energy regulations signed by George W. Bush in 2007 that would have effectively banned 100-watt incandescent light bulbs as of January 1, 2011.

Reports the Wash Times, "The spending bill doesn't actually amend the 2007 law, but does prohibit the administration from spending any money to carry out the light bulb standards — which amounts to at least a temporary reprieve."

That means the regs will likely go into effect next fiscal year, which starts in October 2012.

Reason's coverage of the war on conventional light bulbs is here.

I was on the Stossel show recently, talking about the bulb regs and why they ultimately would reduce very little energy use among Americans:

And back in 2009, Reason.tv counted the ways in which compact-fluorescent light bulbs, the most widely available alternative to Edison's most-iconic invention, just kind of suck: