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times more.
•  "The reason why the federal government legislated the change is because these incandescent bulbs use four times or more energy than other technologies," Kevin Hallinan, a University of Dayton engineering professor who studies renewable energy, told the Dayton Daily News, noting that incandescent bulbs emit more heat.
•  "That's more pollution coming out of the power plants, that's more carbon emissions, so this is really a good thing for the U.S," Hallinan said.
•  Consumers can still purchase the incandescent bulbs as long as supplies last, and they remain in stock at many home-product retailers around the country. Once those are gone, however, the newer bulbs will be the only ones available.
•  Some Republican members of Congress have sought a repeal of certain elements of the ban, but have had no success despite cries of a "nanny state" imposing its will on consumers.
•  In 2011, a trio of Republican lawmakers -- Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess of Texas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee -- offered the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, but the legislation failed to pass the House.
•  The Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, sponsored by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and eight co-sponsors, was also floated in 2011 but died in a House subcommittee.
•  Current laws under the federal government's Energy Star program are enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is in charge of new guidelines for light fixtures. The guidelines for a fixture to earn Energy Star ratings increased in 2013 as part of the federal law's broader energy efficiency plan.
•  The light bulb issue marks a continued pattern of what some say is the federal government's overextending its power in recent years, including spying on news reporters' sources, forcing menu labeling laws in an attempt to change what people eat, and intimidating certain groups, including conservatives, through IRS intrusion.
•  Former presidential candidate Herman Cain said in a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference:
•  "We've got the IRS abuse. FEC intimidation. EPA discrimination. DOJ intimidation. NSA corruption. And it goes on and on and on in terms of the abuse and the corruption in the government that wants to control all of our lives."
•  Said Bakst, of the Heritage Foundation:
•  "We certainly have seen far more government intrusion in the last few years than we have before. It has become the expectation that the government has the proper role in the free choices that we make."