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“CFL light bulbs.

The idea looked soooooo good on paper!”

CFLs are similar to 1.6 gpf toilets in that they are hated by many Conservatives. Sometimes (not Often) liberals have a good idea. These bulbs save an enormous amount of energy normally wasted as heat. Okay, you have to wait for them to warm up. I can wait. Where I don't want to, I don't use them. Now, should incandescent bulbs be banned? NO WAY. Let the market decide.
Forget the mercury issue. It is a red herring. You haven't been worried about the mercury in fluorescent tubes (8 times as much) for the last 70 years or so?

CFLs are similar to 1.6 gpf toilets in that they are hated by many Conservatives.

lol

I agree. Most of my sockets have CFLs and they do cut the electric bill.

I bought my first two in the early 1980s. In the late 90's they were still working.

Several years ago, I started replacing incandescents with CFLs. I have only had 2 that went bad. One was almost immediate, so I think it was defective. The other was because of a bad socket. Other than that, some of them are now about 5 years old and still working.

I moved in late 2009. In the new place, the bathroom has no windows, so it gets very little light. The switch is sort of hidden. So, I installed a lamp with a 10-watt CFL. I leave it on 24/7. It has been going for well over a year.

The complaints that they don't last is not true.

You haven't been worried about the mercury in fluorescent tubes (8 times as much) for the last 70 years or so?

Nope, but I haven't been forced to put them everywhere in my living area, either. If they were the only game in town, I suspect that I'd have paid more attention to them, beyond the one in my (well ventilated, cement-floored) garage workshop.

So, I think you're right in that it's a bit of a red herring, but it's still a valid one, IMHO.

I appreciated the info on the toilets. I just purchased a house that use the low flow ones, none of them work with a flip. I'll check the brand names - I had just chalked it up to "low flow". Figured that, more or less, a toilet was a toilet.

You haven't been worried about the mercury in fluorescent tubes (8 times as much) for the last 70 years or so?

So, I think you're right in that it's a bit of a red herring, but it's still a valid one, IMHO.

I appreciated the info on the toilets. I just purchased a house that use the low flow ones, none of them work worth a flip. I'll check the brand names - I had just chalked it up to "low flow". Figured that, more or less, a toilet was a toilet.