I’m in Texas, and I’ve replaced most of my incandecent bulbs with the CFLs. That was my choice, made easier by the fact that last summer the local grocery chain had them for free (with the coupon). I’m quite certain that there was a federal subsidy behind that - TANSTAAFL, you know. Anyhow, prior to that I only had put them in master bedroom, master bath, kitchen and living room - areas of high usage where the higher cost of the bulbs would be worth it.
Note that these bulbs are no panacea - for one thing, they contain mercury, and if they break there are warnings all over the container about how to clean it up. I still have several of the bulbs that burnt out, because you’re supposed to give them to a recycling center that can handle the mercury...and I have yet to find one. The second thing is that these bulbs don’t have nearly the promised lifetime - they aren’t meant to be turned on and off like an incandecent, and doing so significantly shortens their life...meaning that they’re more expensive than it seems on the surface (yet another thing that the green weenies haven’t thought about).
I utterly RESENT the idea that people nearly 2,000 miles away seem to think that they know what is best for me (and everyone else), and that they are enforcing their do-gooder nonsense literally at the point of a gun, just like every other regulation out there (and before someone says, “but they’re not coming into anyone’s house with a gun to get rid of incandecents” - that’s not what I mean. I mean it in the sense of what would happen to a company that continued to produce incandecents for interstate sale, and disregarded court orders to cease...the guys with guns would be there before long). This country is about freedom and liberty - and the purpose of government is to secure our liberties, NOT to constantly tell us what to do and how to think like perpetual parents of perpetual children.
When they first came out, I tried them and hated the "office" look they provided. Then they changed them; and made the light more in line with incandescent bulbs. However, in my experience, they do not last any longer than incandescent bulbs. We now find out that if they are stored on their sides, CFLs do not last as long. Who knows when they are stored on their sides before we even bring them home? And they do not offer much in the way of 3-way bulbs, either.
Every time I go to Lowe's or Home Depot I pick up another box of incandescents to add to the stockpile.
You're so right. Because when they do that, only those who can "grease the right political wheels" will succeed. And Americans instinctively feel that deep down in their bones.