I'm a libertarian, but I don't think that everyone should have the freedom to do whatever they want; instead, I think that everyone should have the freedom to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.
Buying and even powering energy-inefficient bulbs hurts nobody (or at least, doesn't hurt anybody any more than buying and powering efficient bulbs does). The only thing that hurts anybody in this scenario is the production of pollution by the power plants that provide the power to said bulbs.
Logic would indicate that the best step to improve this situation would be to tax or legislate the power industry rather than the bulb salesmen. Tragically, nothing obscures logic better than corruption and blind ideology, so it's unlikely that either Congress or conservationalists will ever "see the light" (forgive me).
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a libertarian, but I don't think that everyone should have the freedom to do whatever they want; instead, I think that everyone should have the freedom to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. Buying and even powering energy-inefficient bulbs hurts nobody (or at least, doesn't hurt anybody any more than buying and powering efficient bulbs does). The only thing that hurts anybody in this scenario is the production of pollution by the power plants that provide the power to said bulbs. Logic would indicate that the best step to improve this situation would be to tax or legislate the power industry rather than the bulb salesmen. Tragically, nothing obscures logic better than corruption and blind ideology, so it's unlikely that either Congress or conservationalists will ever "see the light" (forgive me).