Today, the US House of Representatives defeated a misguided Republican sponsored bill intended to roll back light bulb efficiency standards passed during the Bush administration.
(Insert huge sigh of relief here)
Predictably, the vote was mostly along party lines, with a few defectors from each side of the aisle; five Democrats voted in favor of the bill and ten Republicans voted against the bill. One Republican voted "present."
Why Republicans would want to repeal a bill signed by George Bush that will save Americans $12.5 billion by 2020, cut pollution, and create manufacturing jobs is a complete mystery to me. Right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck, and Tea Partiers like Michelle Bachman have recently expended enough hot air to heat all of Buffalo next winter, trying to persuade people that the 2007 energy bill would outlaw incandescent light bulbs entirely. It does no such thing; as I reported back in March, (twice, in fact) it simply mandates that incandescent bulbs become more efficient.
It's lovely to feel, however briefly, that Congress occasionally gets something right.
