As gas prices hit $3.79 (and $4.20 in California), Energy Secretary Steven Chu admits he doesn’t own a car. Seems he doesn’t own any lights either, since he just gave a $10 million “affordability prize” for a $50 bulb.
Investor’s Business Daily editorializes:
Chu says the prize — awarded to Philips for its new LED bulb — was meant to spur development of advanced, superefficient light bulbs that are “affordable for American families.”
But at $50 a pop, even the one-percenters will find it hard to afford lighting their mansions.
And maybe Chu hasn’t shopped at Home Depot lately, but there’s already a bulb on the market that’s highly affordable. It’s the thing Thomas Edison invented a while back, and it costs just 37 cents…
Tell us again why we need a Department of Energy?
@Bob, well that is because they only produce as much light as a 25 watt bulb for that 20 bucks you pay (about 150 lumens).
These 50 dollar 800 lumen bulbs (60 watt equ.) will be of course made affordable through forced Utility subsidies. We will get the bulbs cheap on the front end, but all end up paying more for electricity on the back end.
LED’s are great in my flashlights. The few I’ve tried for home lighting were miserable failures producing too little light to be of any real use. Chu, like most bureaucrats, lives in a different world.