First Australia, now Ontario, seems companies that make inefficient lighting better sit up and take notice. The old fashion bulb is on its way out. With CFL’s, GE’s new HEI, not to mention the future promise of LEDS (brighter, use less energy, and no mercury) the future looks bright (sorry) for efficient lighting.

It will soon be lights out for incandescent light bulbs.

The Ontario government said Wednesday it plans to ban the current bulbs and what it calls other inefficient lighting technologies by 2012 in an effort to reduce the province’s electricity consumption and lower the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

“It’s the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off the road,” said Environment Minister Laurel Broten.

The move makes Ontario the first province in Canada – and the first jurisdiction in North America – to commit to a ban on inefficient lighting.(via)

What I like about Ontario’s version of this law is that it doesn’t care how you get your light, it just has to meet a certain energy efficiency requirement. The law will not make it a crime to use inefficient light bulbs, just to sell them, making a “bulb inspector” unnecessary. I would hope other provinces and states follow suit. In the same way we have CAFE standards for cars, we should have efficiency standards for all electrical equipment.

Image from lighterfootstep.org