Switching to Fluorescent like the Australians

A U.S. Alliance to Update the Light Bulb

WASHINGTON, March 13 — A coalition of industrialists, environmentalists and energy specialists is banding together to try to eliminate the incandescent light bulb in about 10 years.

Randall B. Moorhead of Philips Electronics North America with a 60-watt incandescent bulb, left, and his company’s energy-saving bulb.

In an agreement to be announced Wednesday, the coalition members, including Philips Lighting, the largest manufacturer; the Natural Resources Defense Council; and two efficiency organizations, are pledging to press for efficiency standards at the local, state and federal levels. The standards would phase out the ordinary screw-in bulb, technology that arose around the time of the telegraph and the steam locomotive, and replace it with compact fluorescents, light-emitting diodes, halogen devices and other technologies that may emerge.

This is a good move in the right direction, although not for Edison patent holders.