Did I cry "wolf" on the incandescent light bulb ban?

I may need to do a mea culpa here.

For most of last year, many Republicans, myself included, were screaming "Murder!" (not "Bloody murder," because bloodiness is not a requirement for murder) over the pending "ban" on incandescent light bulbs that began its phase-in on January 1, 2012, with the popular 100-watt bulb the first target.  It was never to be a legal prohibition per se but a requirement that incandescent bulbs meet certain energy efficiency standards.  Our belief -- well, the belief in certain conservative circles, that I parroted -- was that it was impossible for incandescent bulbs to meet these new standards.  There was a definite resentment on our part at forcing us to give up a simple, safe and cheap product and instead use the less effective, less pleasant, more expensive and far more dangerous compact fluorescent bulbs, all in the name of the Green Nazis.

Or so we were told.  And so we believed, including me.
Read more »