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Fred Upton, Thomas Edison and MichiganBy jenkuz, Section News
Cross-posted on jennerationx.com
Congressman Fred Upton has been receiving harsh criticism of his quest to become chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Republican has co-sponsored a bill with a liberal Democrat to ban the incandescent light bulb, which was originally made available to the masses by Thomas Edison, because, in Upton's view, it uses too much energy. Upton believes we, as a society, must focus on energy savings since our energy needs will double in a certain time frame due to a study done by God knows who, and paid for probably by a green group. Upton argued that only 10% of the "obsolete" incandescent energy use was light, and 90% was heat, making the fluorescent a more efficient bulb. So he introduced a bill to ban Edison's lightbulb by 2012. Thomas Edison was a genius. He moved to Port Huron as a child, and frustrated teachers by his constant question of "why?" His mother knew he was not "addled" as his teacher said, she knew he was gifted. She took him home, taught him herself, and he began a business distributing newspapers, snacks and candy that was so successful, he branched out by selling fruits and vegetables. By 14, the boy was campaigning for Abraham Lincoln, the father of the Republican Party. He started his own newspaper, outlining the Lincoln-Douglas debates and was making 10 dollars a day, enough at the time to live comfortably on his own. But he instead used his extra money to finance his chemical lab.
One of his first inventions was the electric vote-recording machine, which was rejected because lobbyists liked to be able to coerce members of the legislature away from their instinctive vote in the Massachusetts legislature during a long, drawn out manual counting of votes. Edison was told, "This is exactly what we do not want" a seasoned politician scolded him, adding that "Your invention would not only destroy the only hope the minority would have in influencing legislation, it would deliver them over - bound hand and foot - to the majority."
Edison's invention would have hurt lobbyists and special interest groups like say, the green movement. Edison's biography is very interesting, and I encourage you to go to ThomasEdison.com and read it. Upton and Edison are both from Michigan, both Republicans, both interested in Energy and Commerce. However, one of Edison's crowning achievements, the modern incandescent light bulb, brought the world out of darkness as a result of his ever thinking, ever inquisitive mind. Upton's ban is a snuffing out thought and innovation in the free market. Edison relied on himself and science, the push for fluorescents comes from government's intrusion in the marketplace. The modern incandescent light bulb is the intellectual property of Thomas Edison. When he brought it to the masses, it was heralded as a source of light and heat. The argument that we need to ban it because it is called inefficient is wrong. It is not inefficient, it does what it was invented to do, provide light and heat. Where Upton goes wrong in his ban is that it is not the business of government to decide what I can purchase to light my home. I should have the freedom to look at what the government wants me to use, and Thomas Edison, and say, I like what Tom has done, the light is better, and the fact that I can feel heat from it is helpful here in the north. I want to buy what Tom made. If Fred wants to buy a fluorescent bulb, he can go ahead. The House Energy and Commerce committee should look at creating more power plants, not stopping energy usage. Edison, and other inventors of that extraordinary time in American history, competed with each other, all using the latest technology to invent things using the free market. Upton needs to look at history. I fully support a repeal of the ban on incandescent light bulbs.
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Fred Upton, Thomas Edison and Michigan | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)
Fred Upton, Thomas Edison and Michigan | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)
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