The dim bulb on General Electric TV

Myron defies belief.

Anti-technologist Myron Ebell was hauled into TV and, in the same interview, claimed (a) that government EPA guidelines about the accidental breakage of energy efficient bulbs proved that they were too dangerous to use in the home, and (b) that government regulations always fail and are not worth trying.

He was relying on the usual Mercury toxicity urban legend which, as you would expect, has been picked up by numerous global warming denialists.

It is of course no relevance to Ebell's argument that the EPA also says that coal burning is a significant cause of Mercury pollution -- and that's when things are working normally without breakage. However, when Ebell wrote about that three years ago he claimed that coal powered generation causes no more pollution than growing sunflowers, depending on the composition of the soil.

There's no reason to any of it. As everyone knows, consumers are not logical when they buy things, and are frequently mislead by the corporations. Myron would say, Why regulate anything? If people want to drive around in cars that will combust and burn them alive, or catapult them like a shredded carcass through the windscreen because they can't afford anything safer, then why shouldn't they?

Electricity will go up in price, even if consumers don't know it. If you regret buying that energy hungry appliance five years ago when manufactures were not making anything better which they could have done at the same price, you can thank Myron for fighting for your rights to make mistakes that are profitable for his employers.

Way to go, Myron. Only a corporate-owned TV company would put this joker on the screen.