Yesterday in the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee, legislation that I’ve authored to phase out the sale of incandescent light bulbs in California by 2012 – Assembly Bill 722 – was passed by the Committee on a bipartisan 9-3 vote. It was the first hearing for the bill, which was first announced on January 30, and since that time has garnered an amazing amount of attention around the world – and really, for quite a simple idea.

It takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb – but that 18 seconds can make all the difference to our environment, as well as California’s energy future. The goal of the legislation is to reduce power use while simultaneously cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 1.8 million metric tons per year, which is the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the roads and highways.

According to the California Energy Commission, compact fluorescent light bulbs are 75 percent more energy efficient than standard incandescent light bulbs. Unfortunately, energy-efficient lighting has not been widely used despite the fact that the technology has been around for almost 30 years. One of the primary reasons is cost. When most people shop for new bulbs, they’re most influenced by the price difference between a $.50 incandescent bulb and a $3 compact fluorescent. What they don’t realize is that over the seven-year life span of the compact fluorescent, their savings amounts to almost $62.

People also may not realize that some of our largest utilities have given and continue to give away or provide extensive rebates for hundreds of thousands of energy efficient light bulbs. They reason they do this is because encouraging energy conservation is far more cost-effective than building a new power plant. Case in point, at my annual Kids Fit & Fun Challenge this month, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power gave away 1,000 energy efficient light bulbs to the families that participated in the event. As we continue to move AB 722 forward, it is my hope that we’ll be able to team up and give out even more.

I continue to be encouraged by the widespread support for AB 722. That said, I would like to address some of the concerns some people have expressed about limits on their choices. They prefer the light quality from incandescent bulbs due to the “warmer” light and better appearance in many fixtures. However, if you go to any Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Ikea or your local hardware store, you’ll find that they now carry a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors of energy-efficient lights to please just about anyone. When I was in school I used to have to sit by the window because the fluorescent lights would give me headaches. Today I have a compact fluorescent in my bedside reading lamp.

My bill is simply part of a larger effort to shift Californians toward this simple, practical change. Even though energy-efficient lighting has been around more many years, it is my opinion that we have a market failure. Even with extensive public information campaigns about the benefits of changing to an energy-efficient bulb, most people are not changing habits. But in the last few months, the world is beginning to take notice and embrace the movement, so the time is right in California to start taking these steps.

Six days after I announced AB 722, similar legislation was introduced in Connecticut. A day later, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced an initiative to improve the efficiency of lighting technologies used in commercial buildings in San Francisco. Two days after that, a Republican Assemblymember from New Jersey introduced legislation that calls for his state to switch to fluorescent lighting in government buildings over the next three years. And then, a month later, Australia’s Minister of Energy announced that Australia will phase out all incandescent bulbs by 2010.

In addition, Europe has announced its intention to phase out incandescent bulbs. North Carolina’s Legislature is debating legislation modeled on AB 722. The Governor of Massachusetts has issued an executive order asking for all government buildings to stop using incandescent bulbs. Congresswoman Jane Harman has introduced legislation at the federal level which would effectively halt the sale of incandescent bulbs in the United States by no later than 2020. One month ago, in testimony before Congress, Al Gore stated that banning incandescent light bulbs was one of the ten things that governments should do in order to avert the looming global warming crisis. And just last Wednesday, the Providence of Ontario stated its intention to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012.

And even with all of that, this is not a movement that is being driven by government alone. Wal-Mart has set a goal of selling 100 million energy efficient light bulbs this year. Phillips, one of the three large light bulb manufacturers in the world, has announced it will stop manufacturing incandescent light bulbs by 2016. And just this past weekend in honor of Earth Day, Home Depot gave away 1,000,000 free compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Time and time again, California has proven to be a national leader in energy efficiency. The Department of General Services was recently honored by the U.S. Green Building Council for its commitment to building energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible state buildings. Last year the Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law my Assembly Bill 2021 which makes energy efficiency the number one priority for all utilities in California. It is because of policies such as these that for the past 30 years California’s per-capita energy use has remained flat while the rest of the country has seen dramatic increases in use. This is also why Californians enjoy some of the lowest energy bills in the nation. However, we must continually pursue smart, practical energy saving policies to make sure we don’t fall behind. Policies such as these do not ask people to go without; they simply ask that we all use what we have in a smarter, more efficient way.

This legislation isn’t the sole answer to our energy needs. I realize that encouraging people to switch to energy efficient lighting may not be the easiest task; after all, incandescent bulbs have been around for more than 100 years. Still, it’s my hope that with a strong educational campaign and a lot of solid facts behind this legislation, consumers will come around and give an energy efficient bulb a try the next time one of their incandescents burn out. Our environment and their pocketbook will thank them.