Trump signs order to protect ‘freedom to choose light bulbs’ President Donald Trump has signed an executive order which ‘safeguards the American people’s freedom to choose light bulbs’. The order, dubbed ‘Unleashing American Energy’, is designed to remove ‘burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations [that] have impeded the development of [natural] resources’. Its headline-grabbing action is the removal of state mandates promoting electric vehicles, but also included is a section promoting market competition and innovation for energy-consuming products such as light sources, and also including dishwashers, electric heaters and washing machines. The inclusion of light bulbs has been taken by some lighting industry executives as hinting at a possible reprieve for the incandescent lamp, but legal experts say that it would take an Act of Congress to overturn federal efficiency standards mandating a minimum efficacy of 45 lm/W, which incandescent sources fail to meet. In his last term of office, Trump frequently railed against LED technology and vowed to bring back the traditional light bulb. At a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 2019, he said he looked ‘better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down’. His aim, he said, was to allow Americans to ‘go ahead and decorate your house with whatever lights you want’. • Read more: Link in the comments • The Circular Lighting Report is powered by Recolight • Learn more about sustainable lighting at Circular Lighting Live 2025 on Thursday 25 September. Link below.
Kyle Thornton
1mo
Love this!!!
Gareth Frankland
2mo
Ray of light - Looking at his skin tone, I’m intrigued what lighting he has in his ‘dressing room’ at the White House. You can imagine him not being happy with horrible cold white, low CRI LEDs making his skin tones look washed out, and forming his opinion on LEDs from there. Good quality LEDs with high CRI are so much more efficient than traditional light sources, last a whole lot longer and your skin looks great too! #notallledsarecreatedequal aeros light #lightquality #youknowwhenyouvebeentangoed
Gied van Hoorn
2mo
No problem free choice is fine. His believers can choose 1. to buy one ledlamp now and replace it when he is long gone or 2 to buy one classic bulb now and change it approx 10 times before he is replaced. In the mean time spending approx 20 time the energy. And pay for it like they are going to Pay for all his ideas. But as said fine free choice, go ahead.
Well... it does open the gates for LEDs that offer a full spectrum (closer to daylight). They get a bad wrap because of the lower efficacy (lumens per watt) but if you consider all the non-visual benefits of a complete spectrum their usefulness per watt is much higher.
John Moody
2mo
LED lights at night not respectful of darkness as a resource and have no aesthetic value. Many left on all day. Sooner they go the better.
I need an incandescent squirrel cage last of the pre-ban stockpile has expired!
Suzanne Castine
2mo
you'd think he'd have better things to do! Or maybe he's just trying to set a record for number of executive orders signed in first week of office. We need to brace ourselves for more lunacy
Chief Executive at Recolight and climate activist
2moDepressing news....