The Light Bulb Resistance Movement

By Andrea Seffens on June 15, 2011

America's wild wild west has always been home to cowboys, adventurers, hardened frontiersmen, and red-blooded, independent Americans. In the face of excessive government regulation, Texans have revived their independent streak and passed HR 2510. The bill  returns commonsense to the world of light bulbs, despite establishment opposition.

The bill allows incandescent light bulbs made in Texas to be sold within the state, working around President George W. Bush's 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. The 2007 act would prevent the manufacture and sale of traditional 100 watt incandescent bulbs because they do not meet the new efficiency standards.  HB 2510 reestablishes Texans' rights to manufacture traditional light bulbs and sell them within the state of Texas.  The bill stipulates that the light bulbs must have "Made in Texas" clearly stamped onto them, and requires the Lone Star State's Attorney General to defend a Texan if he is prosecuted by the federal government for a supposed infraction of the Intestate Commerce Clause.  

Texas, by passing HB 2510, is upholding its citizens' Constitutional rights. The federal government lacks the authority to apply the Energy Security and Independence bill's efficiency regulations to light bulbs made and sold exclusively in Texas, as they do not cross state lines and therefore cannot be regulated through the interstate commerce clause. The Constitution has not given the federal government the right to regulate light bulbs made and sold within Texas, so according to the 10th Amendment, it cannot legally do so. The 9th Amendment further strengthens the bill because although the right to make and sell light bulbs in Texas is not specifically in the Constitution, the United States government does not have the right to prevent it.

link