California Moving Forward With Big-Screen TV Power Restrictions

Hugh Pickens writes "The Los Angeles Times reports that California regulators are poised to pass the nation's first ban on energy-hungry big-screen televisions just as they did with refrigerators, air conditioners and dozens of other products since the 1970s. 'We would not propose TV efficiency standards if we thought there was any evidence in the record that they will hurt the economy,' said Commissioner Julia Levin, who has been in charge of the two-year rule-making procedure. 'This will actually save consumers money and help the California economy grow and create new clean, sustainable jobs.' California's estimated 35 million TVs and related electronic devices account for about 10% of all household electricity consumption, but manufacturers quickly are coming up with new technologies that are making even 50-inch-screen models much more economical to operate. Sets with screens of up to 58 inches would have until the start of 2011 to comply with a minimum efficiency standard, with more stringent rules being introduced two years later. If all TVs met state standards, California could avoid the $600-million cost of building a natural-gas-fired power plant, says Ken Rider, a commission staff engineer. Switching to more-efficient TVs could have an estimated net benefit to the state of $8.1 billion, the commission staff reported."

Comments

Re:A Government that can...

[EQ]

Well, I live in the UK, am British, and owe my life to the lifesaving care of the "medical system I can afford" where I was "lucky to get care".

Fuck price controls - go universal/private hybrid.

Works for me.

Ah, one of the lucky ones. Praising the NHS with its looming shortage of physicians, use of less effective and lower quality therapies and drugs because they are cheaper, and terminal queues for things that are quick and routine in a free market; where your unregulated dog can get an MRI sooner than government regulated you. Have fun when they do you like Mrs Fenton and put you on the Liverpool care pathway plan - aka, "Go away and die, we will not care for you" and you have no alternatives but to submit to the government and die quietly.