LA Times:

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said today that Australia would gradually ban incandescent lightbulbs and require the use of more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs instead.

Legislation to restrict the sale of the old bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by hundreds of thousands of tons and cut household lighting costs up to 66%, Turnbull said. Australia produced almost 565 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2004, officials say.

Oh geez. We already have to flush multiple times. Now this?

I hate fluorescent lighting. I simply hate, hate, hate it. The color is unnatural and sickening, things look awful, and at times I can even detect (and am annoyed by) the flicker. Always had to bear the stuff at work, and was glad to come home to a steady, non-disgusting light color.

Frankly, I'd rather work by candlelight than most fluorescent lights.

Oh, and can you imagine how nice a date will be, with you and your girl dining under a sickening, glaring white fluorescent light? Say goodbye to those nice low-voltage track lights which are so popular for softening up interiors.

Which reminds me: Sometime I joke that, though I make my living in a very high-tech profession, as technology & government continually limit my options and privacy, I'll end up living in a cave, reading old paperbacks by candlelight.

If the US follows this lead, we'll be one step closer.