Reality check: Which uses more electricity: a street lamp, or an illegal alien?

Pop quiz - which of these was once mandated by the US government, until it was outlawed, and superseded with a "safer" mandate?

Yes, this IS an election year. What better way to force voters to pick sides than . . . lightbulbs?? (see Fox link at bottom).

Full disclosure – I never regarded the LED vs. incandescent bulb war as a litmus test for party loyalty. Not even when we were being forced to buy those ridiculous CFT (compact fluorescent twist) bulbs. The ones which look like a “Mr. Softee” ice cream cone. They were full dangerous chemicals, and they break instantly if you look at them the wrong way. THAT mandate was quickly replaced by the mania for LED bulbs. Which have come way down in price. From about $10 each to a buck, if you shop on Amazon. However, Amazon bulbs are mostly made in China, so I still have concerns.

I wasn't expecting the surprise release of Lightbulbs – Infinity War 2024. Don't most people already purchase LEDs when a legacy bulb burns out? Go to your local Home Depot, and see if you can actually find an incandescent. Wait . . . I did. It's a night light bulb. 7 watts. I hope this isn't the only thing Biden is targeting. Probably not - the Department of Energy press release says “commercial applications” are in the mix. Which I suppose means tearing out 3 million parking lot and street lamps, and replacing them with something new. Those things were designed to last 30 years or more.

The street lamp outside my apartment complex costs $50 a year to operate. And $1,800 to replace. How do I know this? Because I read the FPL (Florida Power and Light) bulletin urging people not to shoot at them for target practice. This is Florida, but it also may be a problem in Texas, California, Arizona . . . who knows?

If I get caught with the wrong kind of night light in my apartment, and wasting an extra 7 watts, is this an affront to mother Earth, or a test of my obedience to ever changing government edicts? Wait . . . can it be both at the same time? Not really. 7 watts is hilariously insignificant as a draw against our electric grid, compared to plugging in millions of EVs each night to recharge. In an upcoming column I plan to list the municipalities where electric rates (per KWH) are so high it costs more to drive a mile on electricity than on fossil fuel. Don't scoff – there already ARE a bunch.

I don't want to sound churlish, but I'm pretty sure an “undocumented worker” uses more than $50 worth of electricity each year. Whether they're working or not. And the ones who ARE working seem to mostly drive 20 year old Ford F150 pickups which get about 12 miles to the gallon. Don't get smart and say FPL should hire those guys to replace street lamps, because it would cost less than $1,800 each.

The only way this could get worse is if I find out the street lamps we'll need to buy are all made in China, like our solar panels.

I'm just sayin' . . .

Biden admin cracks down on lightbulbs as part of climate agenda (msn.com)