Biden admin moving forward with light bulb bans in coming weeks

[tooki]

as they say, “reality has a liberal bias”.)

Reality seems to have a classically liberal bias. Look at places like the UK in the industrial revolution, or Japan, Singapore, Korea, or Taiwan in the late 20th century. I only hear people who equate liberal with left say "reality has a liberal bias" when they are a leftist who has lost all touch with reality.

The phrase was originated by Stephen Colbert in 2006, so with 100% certainty he meant it to mean “liberal” in the contemporary American sense, not classical liberalism.

It stems from the fact that we consistently find right-leaning media to report more falsehoods than left-leaning media. (Neither side is perfect. One is just consistently worse.)

[Simon]

Your stubbornness is merely proof that change on meaningful scale cannot be made quickly without using force.

The age old justification used by authoritarians everywhere. If you can't get the vast majority to consent to a good idea well explained, maybe it wasn't so great after all.

I think you overestimate the intelligence of the vast majority.

But the majority of people are moving away from incandescent lighting anyway.

There's no point in these silly authoritarian laws.

I never see any in the shops, I really wonder why they don't sell them and why people don't buy them despite them not being readily available. Given that incandescent heaters that happen to put out a bit of light are cheaper surely the mindless masses that work on what's cheapest is best would be buying them right? I gave up trying to work out what the law actually is as figuring out fact from conspiracy is more work than I have effort for considering I am picky about my LED bulbs anyway. I certainly cannot put a 400W heater in a standard fitting like I can put a 40W LED

[Simon]

I'm far more worried about direct threats to humans, posed by other humans such as war and bad policies imposed on us by our leaders, than our unintentional impact on the environment, making the world uninhabitable for humans. The fact is rich countries have managed to minimise their environmental impact quite well. Again policies which limit economic growth, will be worse for the environment in the long run because they will keep people poor.

Rich countries make a big deal of the reduction in their fossil fuel consumption. People are switching to electric cars now on cost, not on technology preference while plenty will themselves to believe that electric is not as good "because"....

As for everything else we are happily offshoring our footprint. We don't make very much in rich nations, we import it so our emissions have simply migrated. Yes lots will argue that this is not their problem, well to every sensible reasoning their will be hundreds of stupid retorts. Let me see, has international trade gone down or up over the last few decades? Who are we trading with and how do they make our junk? yes junk. If a throwaway society is how you want to fuel economic growth then lets hope those developing nations are getting their faster than they are churning through the natural resources or by the time their are "rich enough to care" they will only be caring because they have to anyway.

In a capitalist system the majority will become wealthy enough at a much slower pace than the minority. when most of what we pay for our imported goods is for the fuel to burn the ships across the ocean and to the importers reselling the goods in our countries, how fast is this helping the majority of the population in those countries be wealthy enough to care?

The economic system is about maintaining the status quo. That is why most politicians are only their because they kept the rich dudes happy, the system you think hold so much promise is designed to not let change happen by it's very nature.

[helius]

The economic system is about maintaining the status quo. That is why most politicians are only their because they kept the rich dudes happy, the system you think hold so much promise is designed to not let change happen by it's very nature.

Peter Thiel says this in all his public talks (most recently one at the Oxford Union called "Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Classical Liberalism"). The pace of actual advancement in the hard sciences has stagnated—at least in part—because the people in control are afraid of disruptive change.

[magic]

Politics is no longer separate from science.

When has this not been the case? I mean, back when politics and religion were one and the same, they literally murdered, banished, or imprisoned scientists under the guise of “heresy”.

Not under the guise of heresy but for heresy. And they understood the risk of making themselves look like fools and backed off quickly.

Then natural sciences became free of political bullshit for a few centuries, because people saw that there is "something" to it and that meaningful progress is being made which results in undeniable and objective technological development. Even the Vatican runs their own astronomical observatory.

Then somebody invented the concept of "human science", which is an antithesis of both "human" and of "science", and the rest is history.

Universities have become breeding grounds for political activism.

Aside from the fact that political activism has always been one aspect of academia, since both academia and politics exist in the same universe, I don’t think there’s actually any evidence to support claims of this being more so now than in the past (as the wording “have become” implies).

Political activism was not the motivation of Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Pasteur, Darwin, you name them.

Today actual science happens in commercial R&D labs while public academia degenerated into something like the lowest chamber of the parliament.

I don’t think the skew has moved at all. Again, look at the history of politics and activism in academia and it’s always been on the left, often far left (far more left than today, in many cases). The loss of academic freedom thing is orthogonal to this — that change (which I consider to be negative) can happen without any change in the typical political slant. (Which, frankly, is just innate in education anyway, since secular academia is all about studying objective reality: as they say, “reality has a liberal bias”.)

OK, but "the left" apparently stands for such a diversity of ideas as eugenics, scientific racism, cure-all lobotomy, nuclear weapons research, gay therapy, cure-all gender affirmation, critical race theory, neolysenkoism, etc. - it's hard to even define what "the left" really is

Further conflating "the left" with liberalism isn't helpful either.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Went to Home Depot this weekend. The only incandescent bulbs they had in stock were 40W and 11W "appliance" bulbs. These are intended for use in ovens, and, hence, can't be replaced by LED bulbs.

[Nusa]

Last time I was at Home Depot, they did have the specialty incandescents....large 200W and 300W bulbs on standard bases. I don't need those, but I was amused.

[coppercone2]

those are for heat lamps... whats so amusing about that

[Nusa]

those are for heat lamps... whats so amusing about that

No, 250W reflector heat lamps were also on the shelf, I can tell the difference.

Here's what I'm referring to: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-300-Watt-High-Lumen-Clear-PS25-Medium-E26-Soft-White-2700K-Utility-Incandescent-Light-Bulb-1-Bulb-300M-HDRP/312557048

[TimFox]

Looking at the Home Depot website, I found a good collection of that brand (in the usual range of wattage) in what appear to be old-fashioned (non-halogen) incandescent bulbs for "utility" purposes, as opposed to "general service lamps" to be banned by existing regulations.

[SiliconWizard]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

[TimFox]

I couldn't find anything about blocking access to the website, but under shipping they state:
"We are not able to ship to international destinations, PO Boxes, APO/FPO/DPO addresses at this time."
Googling gives alternative shipping routes through third parties, but not very useful if they block you from the website.

[coppice]

Looking at the Home Depot website, I found a good collection of that brand (in the usual range of wattage) in what appear to be old-fashioned (non-halogen) incandescent bulbs for "utility" purposes, as opposed to "general service lamps" to be banned by existing regulations.

The utility option makes sense. It would take a major technological change for putting a non-incandescent lamp in a cupboard, where its turned on for just a a minute or two a day, to become either ecologically or economically superior to an incandescent one.

[Monkeh]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

[james_s]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

Why not just block the rest of the world? Home Depot is a US retail chain of big box stores very similar to B&Q, they don't sell internationally so I can see their rationale for just blocking anywhere with regulations that would require extra effort to comply with. They're not blocking anyone that is buying their products. Blocking is the path of least resistance.

[Monkeh]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

Why not just block the rest of the world? Home Depot is a US retail chain of big box stores very similar to B&Q, they don't sell internationally so I can see their rationale for just blocking anywhere with regulations that would require extra effort to comply with. They're not blocking anyone that is buying their products. Blocking is the path of least resistance.

So defensive. I actually agree, and didn't say otherwise, however:

I can't visit their website using my phone when in the US. Nor can I look at anything on their website to discuss with or advise anyone in the US. But hey, the US exists in a nice safe vacuum and international communication just doesn't happen, right?

[Someone]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

US retailers have been doing this well before GDPR

[Monkeh]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

US retailers have been doing this well before GDPR

Never really had a problem with it prior. Now you can't even get the news.

[SiliconWizard]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

Why not just block the rest of the world? Home Depot is a US retail chain of big box stores very similar to B&Q, they don't sell internationally so I can see their rationale for just blocking anywhere with regulations that would require extra effort to comply with. They're not blocking anyone that is buying their products. Blocking is the path of least resistance.

I find that approach a bit offensive, but I don't fully blame - it's understandable.

[james_s]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

Why not just block the rest of the world? Home Depot is a US retail chain of big box stores very similar to B&Q, they don't sell internationally so I can see their rationale for just blocking anywhere with regulations that would require extra effort to comply with. They're not blocking anyone that is buying their products. Blocking is the path of least resistance.

I find that approach a bit offensive, but I don't fully blame - it's understandable.

Well it's not my decision, I'm just saying I can see why they do it. I work in software, I know how the meetings go. Somebody brings up some new thing we have to comply with, everyone is busy, someone says "how about we just do xyz", so there is some back and forth and we decide to do xyz because it's the easiest solution that will protect the company while costing as few resources as possible. If they thought another solution would be more profitable they'd do that instead. It's not malice, they're just looking to spend the least amount necessary in order to not get sued.

[ve7xen]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

Why not just block the rest of the world? Home Depot is a US retail chain of big box stores very similar to B&Q, they don't sell internationally so I can see their rationale for just blocking anywhere with regulations that would require extra effort to comply with. They're not blocking anyone that is buying their products. Blocking is the path of least resistance.

There are a lot of edge cases. It may sound like the path of least resistance on the surface, but geofencing is pretty fraught in general, and you probably won't hear about the majority of cases where it pushes a paying customer somewhere else. They may not care about the small percentage of customers this affects, but I still think it is generally a bad idea to block people without any way to measure how it might be affecting the business or any recourse for the end user, especially when they don't seem to gain anything by doing it.

If Home Depot doesn't operate in and won't ship to addresses in the EU I don't see why they would care about the GDPR or other regulations that have no jurisdiction over their operations. It seems even easier to just ignore what people in irrelevant (to your operation) places are regulating.

[coppice]

If Home Depot doesn't operate in and won't ship to addresses in the EU I don't see why they would care about the GDPR or other regulations that have no jurisdiction over their operations. It seems even easier to just ignore what people in irrelevant (to your operation) places are regulating.

I basically agree, but its a bit weird to respond Access Denied. It seems a bit hostile to people who may at some point be in the US, and be potential customers. They could have a page which politely says "We don't operate in your locality", and leave it at that.

[james_s]

If Home Depot doesn't operate in and won't ship to addresses in the EU I don't see why they would care about the GDPR or other regulations that have no jurisdiction over their operations. It seems even easier to just ignore what people in irrelevant (to your operation) places are regulating.

I don't know anything about the GDPR, how does it apply to foreign entities? If for example someone in the EU made an account with Home Depot, could HD then be liable for some sort of damages for not complying with that law? It's entirely possible that the people involved don't even understand the law,

[coppice]

If Home Depot doesn't operate in and won't ship to addresses in the EU I don't see why they would care about the GDPR or other regulations that have no jurisdiction over their operations. It seems even easier to just ignore what people in irrelevant (to your operation) places are regulating.

I don't know anything about the GDPR, how does it apply to foreign entities? If for example someone in the EU made an account with Home Depot, could HD then be liable for some sort of damages for not complying with that law? It's entirely possible that the people involved don't even understand the law,

If the law only affects countries they don't sell to, why would they spend a cent even trying to understand that law? They probably do business with suppliers in Europe. They only need to ensure they conduct that side of their business according to the relevant laws.

[magic]

Apparently Home Depot has banned access in some countries. Or maybe it's just me.

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.homedepot.com/" on this server.

(and yes this is what I get using a https address, so not the problem here.)

Why comply with GDPR when you can just block the rest of the world?

But are they blocking the rest of the world or just the EUSSR?

I have surely seen foreign websites which do the latter and spell it out explicitly on the error page.

If Home Depot doesn't operate in and won't ship to addresses in the EU I don't see why they would care about the GDPR or other regulations that have no jurisdiction over their operations. It seems even easier to just ignore what people in irrelevant (to your operation) places are regulating.

I suppose at least some of those companies that ban EU visitors may simply not want to burn bridges. Hiding in foreign jurisdiction only works until maybe one day you want to open an office in the "irrelevant place" and you suddenly get slapped for 10 years of violations.