This just in from the Department of Enviromental... uhm... Protection...

The bottom line on CFLs and mercury

No need to panic if a bulb breaks. Just follow these strategies from the Environmental Protection Agency...

*screeching brake sound* Come again now? If my incandescent lightbulbs break, I need neither panic nor a list of strategies to deal with the ensuing mess. I can't help but laugh every time I read about these dumbass CFLs and the dumbasses that have foisted them upon us to help "save the Earth". It pretty much encapsulates environmental measures, especially ones the government is involved in, perfectly. There's a problem... supposedly... and to deal with this problem, we're going to implement plans that, more often than not, create a whole new host of problems.

I'm all for new technology and reducing my consumption. I've been doing things like turning off the lights of rooms I'm not in and keeping the temperate at a moderate level. I can't wait for LED bulbs and would love to have reliable, and affordable, alternative energy generation for my house. But I don't appreciate wingnuts and government types mandating half-thought-out ideas that, in the end, just make a dog's breakfast out of everything. Now we have to use bulbs that require a HAZMAT team to deal with should they break and while I'm sure there are folks who are putting these puppies in the recycling, I have not doubt most CFLs are going straight into the trash where they can merrily leach their mercury into the Earth. Brilliant!