Shedding some light on the right wing paper’s panic over lightbulbs

Much hysteria about lightbulbs this week, as it was announced major stores were running out of 100 watt incandescent lightbulbs after retailers voluntarily agreed to stop selling them ahead of an EU ban on the sale of them from September.

The right-wing papers mourned the passing of the 100 watt bulb as if electricity itself was going to be phased out and replaced by candles, rather than by a more environmentally friendly, efficient and cost effective replacement as the Express's headline "EU's barmy idea to ban lightbulbs" suggests.

The Daily Mail began its report with, "Millions of Britons are finally waking up to the fact that their beloved light bulb will disappear for good after 120 years" as if the 100 watt lightbulb is revered as some kind of national treasure, only discussed with tear-stained eyes, a lump in the throat and accompanied by a stirring rendition of Jerusalem.

And depsite the Mail's headline, "Revolt! Robbed of their right to buy traditional light bulbs, millions are clearing shelves of last supplies", the comments section of their webpage suggests most people don't really care or are in favour of the newer lightbulbs. In fact such is the extent of the Mail's misjudged mania over the bulbs, readers take to mocking the story for its lack of logic and scant regard to facts.

The Mail reports that supermarkets and hardware stores are running out of the bulbs. Well of course they are, that's what they are trying to do! It is perfectly logical that 100 watt bulbs will be harder to find as stocks diminish. The fact the paper itself has 25,000 free 100 watt lightbulbs to give away hardly suggests they have become impossible to source items.

Then there is the implication that 100 watt light bulbs are cheaper. They may well be cheaper to buy but energy efficient bulbs last far longer and reduce the amount of electricity used, so in fact work out significantly cheaper.

The Mail's flag-waving about "Britons" and "their beloved lightbulbs" alongside the usual fingerpointing at the EU is made to look ridiculous by their accompanying piece entitled, "What Happens Overseas", which reveals that Cuba, Australia, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela and Switzerland have already or intend to ban 100 watt bulbs.

There is no doubt the odd person who is unhappy that, eventually, they will not be able to buy 100 watt incandescent lightbulbs but if we are to combat climate change then these are the sort of small changes we have to make. The fact you can save £7 of electricity per energy efficient bulb each year highlights this is not just an easy way to reduce the amount of energy we use but an easy way of saving some money. And somehow I doubt that at the current time few people will be planning to "revolt" about that.