A new study claims global warming is due to solar changes much more than human influence.
And while others cite ocean cooling cycles as the main influence, many sources of course still blame humans.
So the quandary becomes even more shrouded.
Not only do I need a calculator to determine whether my CO2 footprint will be smaller if I go fluorescent and re-paint the entire inside of my house to compensate, but I will now have to wait for scholars to weigh-in before I buy any more light bulbs.
Which leaves my house in complete and utter decorating-limbo.
I have two rooms lit by fluorescent only. These are rooms I am rarely in, where the lights are never turned off. That, of course, puts me out of the Green crowd, but puts me in with my nearly-blind cat, as his litter box and food are in these rooms.
I have another room that is lit by one Reveal 40-watt, and a special chrome-top 60-watt Reveal that makes the fan fixture with no paddles left by the previous tenant look much more appealing, while preventing that annoying bare-bulb-prison look. Unfortunately, this room was previously painted with that lighting configuration, so it must be factored into the re-paint.
The bathroom is 2 40-watt reveals and a 40-watt soft with a 7-watt nightlight. Also freshly painted, it would be the last room to go fluorescent, since seeing myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth is quite scarring enough without adding that ghostly fluorescent glow to my cheeks, butt or otherwise.
The hallway is all halogen, which puts me back in the Green running, except that Lowe’s recalled the upstairs pendant light and the downstairs light is ridiculously over-lit with 200 watts of IKEA hipness. But, since I installed these fixtures myself, I am afraid they will short and burn the house down, so they are never turned on.
While that may put me back in the Green, it puts me out of the Architectural Digest, as the short-circuited pendant from Lowe’s still hangs majestically over the stairs, but the hallway switches are covered with red tape, stealing most, if not all, of its aesthetic quality.
The bedroom is quite a hodge-podge with one 40-watt reveal, one 60-watt chrome-top Reveal, and one chrome-top 60-watt bulb I got on the web, after Target stopped carrying my beloved Reveal chrome-tops. The web version bathes half the room in a depressing shade of yellow that you’d be hard-pressed to match at any price. The saving grace is my wife and mine’s cynical laughter every time we turn on our pathetic internet-find.
The living room is 2 3-way Reveal bulbs that are never turned off and the art studio is nearly 400-watts of pure halogen glory that attracts the neighborhood skunks searching for light-loving bugs all night long.
The whole set-up is capped off with three 40-watt candle-tip bulbs out front, and 300-watts of halogen out back that light the neighbors trees as well as my own. It was 600-watts last year, but the buzz of the transformer was louder than the locusts, so I downgraded.
Oh yeah, in a save-the-planet-for-my-nieces-and-nephews moment, I put in an 11-watt fluorescent in the flood light fixture in the backyard, but I don’t think it will be enough to get me in the club.
I remember a time in my life, just a few years ago, when I didn’t have health insurance and a knock on the door meant a utility was probably being shut off.
But now that I’ve made it, and can afford to have the best of everything, including a monstrosity of an electric bill, I find myself standing in front of the light bulb section of the store like a lost child, hoping someone will just tell where to go and what to do.
I guess this just falls under the heading of “Be careful what you wish for.”
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | What happened to global warming?
Related:
Old-Fashioned Light Bulbs Banned in European Union – EU Incandescent No More
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