BEST exchanges bulbs

Now that its starting to get darker earlier (and Im talking about macroclimatic patterns, not the daily world news) Im sure many of us are beginning to start our papers and lab write-ups earlier, so that we can complete them in the comfort of daylight. Right? Good! But for those of us who arent doing so (and I know its a small minority) well, I have some news for you! Actually, youve probably heard it already. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are more energy efficient than your typical incandescent light bulbs. Pretty elementary stuff, right? You probably already know then that they use about 34% the energy of a normal light bulb, and that if each household in America replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent, the amount of pollution prevented would be roughly equivalent to removing 1 million cars from our roads. What did you say? Light bulbs are powered by our oil and coal burning power plants? Dont those plants release harmful toxins like mercury and sulfur dioxide in our air and water ways and increase rates of childhood asthma, especially in impoverished urban communities? Well, yes. But the Bush administration has made it clear through its Clear Skies Act that those plants are here to stay at least for a little while longer. Enough politics back to bulbs.