From Bloomberg today, just trying to cheer the shareholders up a...

From Bloomberg today, just trying to cheer the shareholders up a bit. This sell off is rediculous, I bought a few and let's see how this goes.


Light Bulbs, Gasoline Will Change With U.S. Energy Bill Passage

By Daniel Whitten

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The light bulbs in almost every U.S. home and the gasoline in many cars will be altered by energy legislation that the U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass today.

The measure slashes U.S. energy use 8 percent by 2030, environmentalists say. It contains the first new vehicle fuel economy law in 32 years and mandates a fourfold increase in the use of biofuels. The bill, already approved by the Senate, phases out incandescent light bulbs, which have been in use for a century, and places the first limits on the amount of water used in new washing machines and dishwashers.

The legislation even changes the appearance of the Department of Energy in Washington -- by requiring the construction of a set of solar panels almost as large as a football field to help power the building.

``I think it's huge,'' said Earl Jones, senior counsel for Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co., which was founded by incandescent-bulb developer Thomas Edison. ``Literally, the amount of energy that's being saved by the light-bulb standard alone is more than has been achieved since 1986 for all appliances combined.''

The legislation moves to the House today after the Senate last week removed a provision boosting taxes on oil and gas companies by about $13 billion over 10 years to help pay for extending credits to wind, solar and biomass power producers. The Senate also dropped a requirement that some utilities get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources. President George W. Bush will sign the legislation, his press secretary said.

Funding Needed

Lowell Ungar, policy director for the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, said that while the bill has some significant measures, it also has many initiatives that won't work unless Congress acts separately to spend tens of billions of dollars to fund them.

``There are dozens and dozens of provisions, some of which I am skeptical will have any impact at all,'' Ungar said. One such provision is intended to develop commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they consume. While the goal is worthy, Ungar said, Congress may not ``have the appetite'' to spend the $1.5 billion through 2018 that is called for in the energy legislation.

Still, proponents say the energy bill will be effective, saving consumers $80 billion in today's dollars by 2030 through more efficient cars and lower electricity and natural gas bills. It also cuts more than 20 percent of the carbon emissions that scientists say must be eliminated by 2050 to fight global warming.

A Blend

The Department of Energy envisions that many automobile gasoline tanks would eventually use a blend of 80 percent gasoline and 20 percent ethanol, a renewable product, according to Alexander Karsner, the agency's top renewable energy official.

The legislation requires that biofuels be blended with gasoline to reduce the amount of petroleum needed for U.S. transportation. The measure approved by the Senate boosts the requirement for production of biofuels to 36 billion gallons in 2022 from 7.5 billion in 2012.

Ethanol producers surged Dec. 14, the day after the Senate passed the bill. Aventine Renewable Holdings Inc. of Pekin, Illinois, soared $1.15, or 11.2 percent, to $11.44 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Companies such as Amsterdam-based Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world's largest light-bulb maker, and GE, seeing the determination by Democrats to act on energy legislation, helped Congress develop the lighting standards that will end the sale of incandescent light bulbs within a decade.

Took Control

Randall Moorhead, vice president of government affairs at Philips Electronics North America, said that after the 2006 elections, in which Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress, his company knew it needed to act.

``We knew that 12 years of pent-up demand by Democrats to do the things they wanted to do was going to be released in a number of ways and one of those ways was in energy efficiency,'' said Moorhead.

Ungar called the light bulb standard ``the single most important efficiency standard in the history of the program.''

By phasing out traditional incandescent light bulbs, the U.S. would cut light bulb electricity use by 60 percent by 2020. The light bulb standard alone will cut Americans' electric bills up to $18 billion annually, Philips estimates.

The bill requires new dishwashers to cut water use by 28 percent and clothes washers by about 40 percent while improving energy efficiency, GE's Jones says.

``The green energy efficiencies here should not be underestimated, they are significant,'' said Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, who helped craft the legislation.

The legislation also requires the Energy Department to build a solar-voltaic wall to power the agency. The $30 million wall will serve as a visitor center promoting solar power, and supply the department with clean energy. The solar wall would ``be a showcase in the nation's capital for the use of solar energy,'' said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association.