Jane Harman: “while the process has been difficult, this rule is worthy of support, and the underlying bill is a test of our will to…”

“while the process has been difficult, this rule is worthy of support, and the underlying bill is a test of our will to solve the cataclysmic challenge of our time: global warming. This rule and this bill give us many tools, from fuel efficiency to alternative fuels to renewable energy standards. They also incorporate thoughtful, thorough appliance efficiency standards reported on a bipartisan basis by the Commerce Committee and previously enacted by this House. As co-author with Fred Upton of the light bulb provisions, let me underscore how important they are. In this bill, we ban, by 2012, the famously inefficient 100-watt incandescent bulb, which emits 10 percent of its energy as light and wastes the remaining 90 percent. Sounds like this House. We phase out remaining inefficient bulbs by 2014, and by 2020 light bulbs will be three times more efficient, paving the way for the use of superefficient LEDs manufactured in the U.S. by 2020. Mr. Speaker, it takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb and even less time to vote ``aye.'' Importantly, the bill gives the Department of Energy the authority to craft a rule to give the lighting industry the flexibility to sell a range of bulbs, but there are protections. The rule must save as much energy as a flat requirement that all bulbs be 3 times more efficient than today's bulbs. And if DOE doesn't get its act together, the flat requirement will automatically became law.”