Energy Ontario Boards the Bulb-Banning Bandwagon By Ryan McGreal

Published April 18, 2007

City Council is off scot free: at least one opportunity to take the lead has been taken out of its hands.

The Ontario Government has announced that it will introduce legislation to ban energy-inefficient lights by 2012.

The law will apply to retailers selling bulbs, not to consumers using them.

I haven't seen the details of the legislation yet, but I hope the province passes the law based on enegy efficiency - e.g. a minimum standard of so many lumens per watt - rather than identifying particular technologies and limiting potential research.

The opposition parties support the legislation, but the NDP argues it should take effect in 2010, when Australia's ban takes effect, not 2012.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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