Turn Off the Light!

The Ontario government has announced that it will ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012 as one part of reducing the province's electricity consumption and lowering greenhouse gases. Environment Minister Laurel Broten is quoted as saying the expected effect will be the same a taking 250,000 cars off the road. Enacting the ban will make Ontario the first province in Canada, as well as the first jurisdiction on North America to commit to such a move. Energy Minister Dwight Duncan says the ban will make it illegal for retailers to sell the bulb, but there will be no penalty for homeowners or businesses who use them. That would allow for everyone who has any stockpiled from the last great incandescent sale to use what they paid for before Edison's great idea goes the way of the dodo.