Increased Lightbulb Standards Preserved, Legislative Standards Lowered During Frivolous Debate, Says Congressman

WASHINGTON (July 12, 2011) -- For the first 188 days of this session of Congress, House Republicans have yet to bring a single jobs bill to the House floor. And then, on the 189th day, they let there be a vote…on light.
 
The attempted GOP repeal of a bipartisan bill signed into law by President Bush in 2007 that sets minimum energy efficiency standards on light bulbs failed today in the House of Representatives. As a result, families will still save $12 billion, or about $100 per household from the energy bill savings resulting from the standards. Consumers will still have several new choices in lighting from the innovation resulting from the standards. And 30 new coal or nuclear power plants will still not have to be built due to the energy savings resulting from phasing out energy wasting old light bulbs.
 
Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement:
 
“Fortunately, the Republican attempt to repeal minimum efficiency standards for light bulbs failed, but it is reflection of how radical the House Republican majority has become that a bipartisan, common-sense provision supported by both industry and environmentalists was threatened with repeal, and that the House wasted its time on such a matter when we have much more important work to do to create jobs and reduce the deficit.
 
“My only hope is that when House Republicans were up on the ladder trying to change everybody’s light bulbs, they saw the light on the debt ceiling and will now start working for the American people, not the special interests.
 
“I know some of my Republican colleagues have been burning the midnight oil in these debt negotiations. I hope they know it doesn’t actually mean we have to go back to burning midnight oil, and can instead use these new money- and energy-saving bulbs to show us the path forward on more serious issues.”
 

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