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The Lights Have Officially Gone Out In the US
Here’s a
news story that summates the US economy’s problems rather well:
The last major GE factory making ordinary
incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and
company that can trace their roots to
Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.
Here we have
a product, invented by one of America’s Greatest inventors (if not THE
greatest), of which the US was the premiere manufacturer, now being
manufactured ENTIRELY overseas:
How could
this have happened?
What made the plant here vulnerable is, in
part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards
essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more
efficient bulbs.
The
resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be
immense. But the move also had
unintended consequences.
Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S.
manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact
fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in
China.
This story,
more than anything else I’ve seen in recent weeks, summates beautifully the current
political/ economic situation for the US today.
Congress
which is comprised of individuals who know nothing about engineering,
chemistry, manufacturing, or any other technical know-how, pass a law based on
political agenda without even bother to consider the impact on the US economy.
As if that
weren’t ignorant enough, Congress then proclaims that the new clean energy
policies will CREATE jobs, once again
proving they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to real
economic conditions in the US.
The end result?
An industry
that has flourished in the US for over a century, founded by an American
genius, has now been entirely outsourced overseas. That’s just one more nail in
the coffin for the American manufacturing base. And one more wave of American
workers finding themselves at the unemployment line (the last existing plant in
Winchester, VA is laying off 200 people this month).
Please
understand, I am not against Clean Energy at all. What I AM against is stupid
policies losing Americans jobs just to fatten profit margins at the large
multi-nationals.
The real
winner of this whole set-up is of course the multi-national company, in this
case GE, which, by the way, owes its very existence to tax payer bailout money
from 2008. GE will very likely see a slight bump in profits by cutting down on
the operational costs of its light-bulb manufacturing wing (labor is cheaper in
China).
This hammers
home one of the founding theses of my socio-political newsletter The
Phoenix World Views Digest, that the US is comprised of two groups of
people: individual citizens and
the large multi-nationals. These two operate under a completely different set
of rules. And the system is entirely rigged to benefit the latter (the
multi-nationals) at the expense of the former (individuals).
Until this
changes, the US will remain as it has been for the last 30 years: an oligarchy
masquerading as a democracy.
Good Investing!
Graham
Summers
PS. If
you’re worried about the future of the stock market and have yet to take steps
to prepare for the Second Round of the Financial Crisis… I highly suggest you
download my FREE Special Report specifying exactly how to prepare for what’s to
come.
I call it The Financial Crisis “Round Two” Survival Kit.
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market (this “insurance” paid out triple digit gains in the Autumn of 2008).
Again, this
is all 100% FREE. To pick up your copy today, www.gainspainscapital.com and click
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In case it hasn't been said yet, "Screw GE".
Or, in this case, unscrew GE and screw in a CFL. Either way, there's a lot of screwing going on. And as usual, it's non-consensual.
Time for the jokes: "How many (fill in blank)s does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
This all started when the SCOTUS made the decision that companies have the same "rights" that "individuals" have, so the Bill of Rights extend tho them as well. It is pretty clear that the Founding Fathers intentions were such that they were thing of "people" and not companies, when they were talking about the Bill of Rights.
The SCOTUS case was the "First Amendment" case which gives companies the same first amendment rights as an individual in elections and the rest. Which is clearly bunk, that just means that "money" is equal to "free Speech" and the more money you have the more Free Speech or "right" you have. That is the way the corps have the ability to drown out the din of those "pesky Tea Partiers" who are looking for liberty for humans and not corps or politicos either.
Oh yeah....the Bill of Rights....tell me that wasn't another sneaky Canadian conspiracy?
Those sneaky, sneaky Canadian bastards....first the Bill of Rights, then they don't get the memo that Canada is the US's 51st state.
Those mofos.....
Screw GE !!
For anyone in a house with 'electric heat', incandescent bulbs are 100% energy efficient during the heating season.
kerosene lamps,
candles and
gaslight "bitchez"
And these new bulbs, made with no regulation, those who complain that also put out the over regged american biz?
These flouro bulbs are fill will mercury and other toxic shit. Just try not break those puppies. They may make you turn "GREEN" and maybe a couple other pretty colors.
Good story, I will stock up on the good old bulbies, and so I can still use a dimmer switch,too.
"Congress which is comprised of individuals who know nothing about engineering, chemistry, manufacturing, or any other technical know-how, pass a law based on political agenda without even bother to consider the impact on the US economy."
Many of the problems facing the world today were caused by people who put a local economic factors in front of the health/welfare of the entire planet.
never underestimate La Mordida...
http://www.mexicomatters.net/retirementmexico/04_bribeslamordidainmexico...
I actually bought some GE bulbs at Walmart about a year ago. I felt good choosing something from that store that was actually made in U.S....
That could very well have been the only thing in the store made in U.S. outside of food, soap etc..
Not that I shop there a lot, I do get basic items there.
Most incandescent bulbs actually made offshore.
http://daylilylane.blogspot.com/2009/01/made-in-usa.html
http://www.usstuff.com/lightinc.htm
Last GE bulb workers making $30 an hour may have to rob banks or flip burgers for less than a third income.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR201009...
GE coming out with LEDs within a year.
http://www.geconsumerproducts.com/pressroom/press_releases/lighting/led_...
Largest CFL manufacturer based in Aurora, OH...
http://www.energyvortex.com/pages/headlinedetails.cfm?id=3277
"Constitutional Republic" not democracy . Democracy is mob rule, two wolves & one sheep voting on whats for dinner.
"CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China."
I would have thought that the manufacturing of CFLs was so automated that wage/location didn’t matter for profit so why aren’t these bulbs manufactured in the USA?
Is it due to China’s cheap currency? I say slap a bitch tariff on these guys!
Even with high automation, a factory doesn't run by itself.
You need operators to control the machines, tests, process development, admnistration and management of the factory, people who handle logistics...etc
All these people cost the manufacturer say an average $70,000 per year per employee (including payroll taxes etc...) in the USA but they cost $3,500 per year in indonesia or china.
When you add it all up, it's cheaper to produce bulbs (whether they are CFC or incandescent or whatever) in china or indonesia and pay for shipment to the USA than to produce in the USA.
Slaping tariffs doesn't seem to work either, the current dominant mantra is that protectionism is bad and free trade is better.
Conclusion : we're fucked no matter what. Which means as long as US workers cost more than third world workers, no manufacturing in the US and everyone of those workers has to convert to becoming a real estate agent or a lawyer (which doesn't work either, too many of them already), a politician or spend time flipping hamburgers or dealing cocaine.
Eventually, when this country will be completely ruined and it's cheaper to pay someone in the USA than in indonesia, jobs will come back, and the whole rickmoro will start again.
sorry for being (slightly) cynical, but that's what is...
Taxes and regulation. Wages are and have always been a small part of the equation. If it were just about wages, our manufacturing base would have gone to South America long ago. People like to talk about wages being the cause because they don't want to think that their government caused them to lose their job.
Wages only a small part/reason? Nice try... You are close, but the REAL issue is benefits.
Most "jobs" have been automated. THIS is what people don't want to talk about, lest they realize that their incesant demand for cheap electronic goods has helped eliminate a crap-load of jobs from the US.
As far as jobs going to South America, well... South Americans don't make good slaves (they tend to revolt); plus, their "educational" system isn't corporate approved (read "created to serve multi-national corporations").
Reminds me of a business card an interesting fellow handed me back in the 70's. Had only his moniker and an offering of products and services provided. A sampling from memory:
Seems almost prescient.
Was it Dick Feynman?
Uuuhhh, no.
LOL ! well, that sounds like a good guess.
All those new Green Light Bulbs being made in China use, wait for it...
Rare earth metals. And China produces 95% of them.
My watch list of rare earth metal miners (all of the below are looking to vertically integrate):
MCP, GWMGF, AVARF, LYSCF
All of the above companies' charts can be found at stockcharts.com
Are there rare-earth metals in CFLs?
Wikipedia's entry for CFLs is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp
Next stop for cheap labor: Africa.
Once there is an African middle class, and they get feckless and lazy, we'll be really desperate for jobs - so they'll outsource to cheap labor here. The circle of life! It just might take a generation or 10 to get there.
The probability of this happening, of labor returning here is very low. The system that's created this mess won't be able to perpetuate it w/o plentiful, cheap energy.
Many countries suffer the same fate by the same banksters. City,GS JPMorgan chief among them. Burn you bastards, burn.
Oh please, the common light bulb is so outdated! they knew this already a decade ago!
I've found that the common bulb has about 60-75% of the life of the new hazmat bulbs and costs a fraction as much...in our house at least. Brought to you by the same people that invented the 2-3 flush toilet.
Can Sheryl Crow get a roll of TP to last a year?
Brought to you by the same people that invented the 2-3 flush toilet.
Every time one of my toilets clog, I think of the Republicans, same for the new bulbs. Same thoughts every time I look at a light fixture that needs replacing because the CF bulbs that are dimmable and have the right base a too expensive to be practical.
You must be buying some pretty low grade bulbs. I switched to all CFLs in my house, and five years later I had only had to replace about 1/4th of them. I was also able to light my house like it was a football stadium for 1/3rd the electricity cost of living in a dim shitcan with bunch of regular 60-watt bulbs.
So yeah, I don't think incancesdents should should have been banned, as I used them for other things, like keeping my well from freezing in the winter (I could see the light on and know that it wasn't going to freeze without having to trudge through the snow), but that doesn't make the CFL a great invention.
CFL bulbs would make a lot more sense if their power factor (measure of efficiency) was greater than 75%, instead of an abysmal 45%.
Backs up my comment that it's all a matter of use.
Just as the mercury issue with CFLs is being externalized, there's the externalization of the costs associated whith incandescents of/from the mercury emissions from the coal-fired electricity plants that produce 50% of US electricity. Sadly, I think that it really doesn't matter, that everything seems to come out in the wash... and that's where using the "tools" properly is the best measure (and minimizing consumption).
Really, so the fluorescent compacts are considered HAZMAT material due to their relatively high amounts of mercury. They should not be disposed of with regular household trash, so now what? And let's also keep in mind that the average price for an incandescent light bulb is pennies. That reflects low construction cost, which means low energy cost. What's the price of the average fluorescent compact? Sometimes less is more.
so now what?
Stick the dead flourescent bulbs in a padded envelope, seal, apply hammer liberally until flat, then mail to congressperson of interest. Waste disposal AND powder-letter calling forth hazmat suits and black helicopters in one go.
This line of reasoning is completely lost on the greenies. I tried pointing out the energy cost of manufacture to a green friend of mine once, especially compared to the sunk cost of the existing bulbs I had. His response? But that is just a tiny part of its life span! A mere instant!
He had no concept of energy expended during production, shipping and retailing. His only measure was future energy consumption over time during usage.
Why? Because to him the past was the past, and only the future consumption differences had any bearing. He even tried talking me into replacing all of my still functional bulbs, as well as throwing away the new ones I had in the closet!
To him, this additional production cost is a one-time hit we have to absorb in order to make the world a better place. Which is exactly the same logic as to those who promoted wide-spread solar usage even before they were able to make them at a net energy gain.
Another example is the promotion of wind turbines in non-windy areas where they will never, ever recover the cost of production, let alone the opportunity cost of the squandered money.
Really, so the fluorescent compacts are considered HAZMAT material due to their relatively high amounts of mercury.
As of 2009 (CPSIA) it is actually illegal to sell ("transfer") children's toys or books made before 1985 when stricter lead/mercury content laws were in effect (although Chinese lead-filled product still flooded the market). Thrift shops, libraries, used book stores etc. are destroying older kids books by the dumpster load. Isn't that wonderful?
So, old books are poisonous and illegal but make sure to fill your home with CFLs becaue regular light bulbs are soon to be illegal too. Got it?
That's right G. Break a CFL in your home and you are supposed to call the fire department to clean up the mess and dispose of it correctly.
Believe it or not, the danger of CFLs is something the greenies actually like about them, because it requires a "responsible government" solution known as a safe disposal facility, which in their minds, is yet another form of recycling.
My greenie friend that I mentioned in my other post offered to take my bad CFL (greenie protip: they overheat inside of closed fixtures) and have it disposed of. Well, except that he forgot, so I chucked it in the trash later.
Meanwhile after he gives me the tip about over heating, he puts another CFL right back in the same fixture that broke the last one.
Personally, I consider them a scam, and will move to LEDs instead when they are ready for prime-time.
Until then, I'm stocking up on real bulbs.
Frigging CFLs! Tell me that's not a Canadian plot?
Frigging Canooks! Sneaky bastards! Sneaking into our 51st state of Canada.
Can't trust anyone anymore.....
A lot longer ago than I care to admit to, my high school chem teacher would pour a little mercury out on the lab table so we could learn first hand about surface tension. I haven't noticed any long turm efecks.
Joe Davola
It's mainly the Mercury fumes.
Some medicines still use Mercury. It was used more commonly right up to the middle of the 20th century.
What? I don't smell anything...
Abstatively!
The compact fluorescent bub, once manufacturing cost and carbon footprint as well as disposal of hazardous materials in included in the calculation, turns out to be an energy and carbon sink.
The Law of Unintended Consequences.
Ranks right up there with the Prius' mpg being less than many other more fuel efficient gas/diesel powered autos without the battery disposal problem, or the purely electric car (Leaf, Volt, etc.) having a very large carbon footprint when pollution from generating stations and loss of energy through resistance of transmission facilities is included.
Martha, gte the popcorn going! Gonna get heady in here!
And that goes to the heart of the problem...........the big business special interests.
Add to the list, ethanol fuel from corn. Don't get me wrong, the research is vital because if we can figure out how to efficiently produce fuel from the corn STALKS, it will be worth it. But mass production of ethanol from the edible corn is a complete waste of food as well as a bigger carbon footprint over the life cycle (plant, fertilize, water, harvest, etc) than gas from oil.
Ethanol from corn is only to line pockets and buy votes.
also lithium nicad nimh lithium battery recharge degradation plus manufacturing pollution and cancer despite much green hype:
http://reliableanswers.com/general/prius_v_hummer.asp
http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Batteries.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_%28electricity%29
VW Jetta TDI can get over 50 mpg on the highway, as can Geo Metro, versus Prius 48,
and last far longer without so many batteries...
http://tdi.vw.com/5882-mpg-guinness-world-record-set-by-jetta-tdi/
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/specs.html
People will be walking around with halogen smart phones.
You left out the most significant development, the Corning ribbon machine:
http://www.asme.org/Communities/History/Landmarks/Corning_Ribbon_Machine...
and
http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5520.pdf
ditto that...
Thanks for that. Very interesting.