What is Energy Bill H.R. 6?
 Energy Bill H.R. 6 |
Energy Bill H.R. 6, The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, is an energy bill that was passed to help the United States break away from relying on other countries for energy.
This bill was supposed to accomplish several goals:
- to help the United States develop internal resources for providing energy by increasing production of fuels that are clean and renewable
- to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles by promoting research on greenhouse gas capture and storage options
- and to improve the Federal Government’s energy performance
Representative Nick Rahall of West Virginia sponsored the bill, and it was made law on December 19, 2007, almost one year ago. Let’s see how much of an impact this bill has made so far.
A year later, what has the bill accomplished?
This bill has not accomplished much in the past year. We are still relying heavily on foreign countries for our oil, and as a result our gas prices reached record levels this year.
As a direct result of that, the price of many other goods and services that we rely on reached record levels this year. This resulted in job losses in many different areas, especially the auto industry.
Many companies have also had to make cutbacks in different areas. Although the price of gas has started to come down, the price of other goods and services remains high, which will likely affect the economy for quite a while yet.
What is the positive and negative fallout of this bill?
The law has created challenges for selling lighting control for both integrators and manufacturers, since the law calls for inefficient light bulbs, such as 40 watt to 100 watt incandescent light bulbs, to be eliminated by the year 2012.
On the positive side this will save energy because homeowners will have to switch to LEDs, compact fluorescent lamps, or certain types of halogens.
These are more fuel-efficient, however there are concerns about how to dim the light bulbs, as well as how to dispose of them. It just so happens that the Energy Superstore offers inexpensive dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs, as well as a lighting product recycling program.
People who install lighting systems will have to inform new and existing customers about the positive and negative ramifications of the law.
How could we change or improve upon this bill to better prepare the US for a switch to alternative energy?
More research funding must be made available for alternative energy research! We have done much to prepare our light bulbs to be highly efficient, easy to obtain and install, and inexpensive with a wide variety of options and wattage. The government should also make a push for such technologies as hydrogen full cells, photovoltaic film, electric hybrid engines, and wind power efficiency.
Aside from research, more effort should be made to inform the public about their options with regard to more efficient light bulbs, solar glass and paneling, and cold weather insulation optimizations. Were this knowledge made readily available, more people would be likely to switch or obtain their energy efficient technolgies at the start.
Written by Fluorescent EfficiencyEnergy Efficient Compact Fluorescent Lighting
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