Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

From the Washington Post.com (Sept. 8):

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning [my emphasis] ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs. [read more]

Yes, it is sad for a company to go out of business for no good reason. So, much for the economy growing. Then again this is what the environmental nuts wanted--the incandescent light bulb to disappear. It's one thing if a better light bulb comes along and replaces the a previous one just through normal market forces. But to have the "all-knowing" gov't ban a product because of some stupid reason, is just plain wrong.

It's a fact that gov't can't create business growth, but it sure as hell can destroy it.