As if to prove that no rampart of the nanny state will go unstormed by Republicans in this 112th Congress, U.S. Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess of Texas want to make America safe again for the incandescent light bulb. 

Barton and Burgess, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have pledged to once again introduce a bill to roll back a 2007 law with energy efficiency standards that will effectively outlaw good old incandescent lights bulbs across America by 2014, according to a story by the Daily Caller. Barton, R-Ennis, who introduced the bill in the last session, has made no secret of his disdain for the cost of and the quality of light produced by the "little pig-tailed" fluorescent bulbs, as Barton has referred to them.

Thomas Alva Edison's pride and joy was at the center of a tungsten filament-hot battle in November between Barton, the former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the new chairman. Upton was one of the sponsors of the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007, but has since reversed himself on the corkscrew-model bulbs when it was determined they were not particularly environmentally friendly and disgruntled citizens began stockpiling incandescents.

“The last thing we wanted to do was infringe upon personal liberties," Upton said in a statement issued in December under a bit of pressure from Tea Party activists. "This has been a good lesson that Congress does not always know best.”

Should Barton have success with his Better Use of Light Bulbs or BULB Act, may we suggest he have a go at WATT, the Worldwide Acronym Trashing Treaty.

Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org.

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Photo of light bulb by flickr user Outsanity Photos, used via a Creative Commons license.