coming to you soon from the great Obama Admin and gobal warming folks... ban on big screen TVs

State considers ban on big screen TVs

March 23rd, 2009, 3:00 am · 107 Comments · posted by BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento Correspondent

In their continuing quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, state regulators have uncovered a new villain in the war on global warming : your big screen TV

Couch potatoes, beware.

The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take 25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them40 inches or larger.

“The larger the television, the more at risk it is of being banned unnecessarily in California,” said Douglas Johnson, senior director of technology police for theConsumer Electronics Association.

Association officials say the standards are not only unnecessary –  because the federal government already regulates energy efficiency through the voluntary Energy Star program — but also ill-timed. The last thing our economy needs now is products taken off the market, they say.

Furthermore, they say that with a weak economy, consumers are going out less and watching TV more.

“This is really about regulating entertainment, not energy use,” Johnson said.

Poppycock, says the commission.

Affordable big screen TVs will still be available under the new standards, spokesman Adam Gottlieb said. In fact, he said the regulations will save you money.

The commission calculates that if you buy televisions meeting the proposed standards it’ll cut your annual energy use by — drum roll, please — $18 to $30 per television per year.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to save money,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb said the commission is exploring the regulations to reduce the strain on the energy grid and to avoid building new power plants.

Televisions are the fastest growing consumer appliance in California. Californians are buying bigger TVs, and more of them. If something doesn’t happen, televisions are going to devour a bigger and bigger piece of the state’s power grid, which means we’ll need more power plants. More power plants mean more greenhouse gas emissions.

“Consumers aren’t aware of the hidden cost of powering these things,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb insisted that the regulations wouldn’t eliminate big screens from California stores. But the commission’s own draft report says TV energy use is “proportional to the screen size.” And there’s no doubt the regulations will limit energy use.

So if you’re in the market for big screen TV, now might be the time to buy. The regulations are expected to be approved this summer.

From Trisha

$20.00 

Sometimes we just need to be 
reminded!



A well-known speaker 
started off his seminar by:

holding up a $20.00 
bill. In the room of 200, he asked, 
'Who would like this 
$20 bill?' 

Hands started going up. 


He said, 'I am going to give this 
$20 to one of you 

but first, let me 
do this. 
He 
proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. 


He then asked, 'Who 
still wants it?' 

Still the hands 
were up in the air. 

Well, he 
replied, 'What if I do this?' 

And he 
dropped it on the ground 

and started 
to grind it into the floor with his shoe. 

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. 


'Now, who still wants it?' 


Still the hands went into the air. 


My friends, we have all learned a 
very valuable lesson. 

No matter what 
I did to the money, you still wanted it 

because it did not decrease in value. 


It was still worth $20. 


Many times in our lives, 


we are dropped, crumpled, and ground 
into the dirt 

by the decisions we 
make and 

the circumstances that come 
our way. 

We feel as though we are 
worthless. 

But no matter what has 
happened or 
what will happen, you 
will never lose your value. 

Dirty or 
clean, crumpled or finely creased, 

you are still 
priceless to those who DO LOVE you. 

The worth of our 
lives comes not in what we do or who we know, 


but by WHO WE ARE and 
WHOSE WE ARE. 


You are special 
- 
Don't EVER forget it.' 

If you do not pass 
this on, you may never know the 

lives it touches, the 
hurting hearts it speaks to, 

or the hope that it 
can bring. 

Count your blessings, 
not your problems. 


'And remember: 
amateurs built the ark .. 

professionals 
built the Titanic. 

If God brings you to 
it - He will bring you through it.