I would rather have LED bulbs. Less toxic waste. They need to come down in price though.
The entire CFL mandate is a perfect example of why the govt. shouldn’t micro manage the economy. LEDs are superior to CFLs in every aspect. Had the free market been left to its own devices, it would have jumped right over CFLs and go into research on LEDs (which btw, is exactly what happened in China). But becase the govt. pushed CFLs, our industry geared up to produce them.
A few weeks ago I talked to a guy that involved in industrial lighting. He says China dominates the LED manufacturing now, and will soon clean our clock in the production of light bulbs, as LED light bulbs are soon to come down in price, leaving our lighting industry holding the bag because it is geared up to produce what will soon be OBSOLETE compact florescent bulbs.
There’s no CFL mandate. There’s an efficiency requirement on certain common wattages that conventional incandescents can’t reach.