Another Brilliant Idea From the State of California

According to the Los Angeles Times, the California Energy Commission wants to regulate the sales of less energy efficient LCD and plasma TVs and potentially remove them from store shelves. The consumer electronics industry and several retailers oppose the legislation and claim that it will raise prices and encourage consumers to purchase televisions on the Internet or go out-of-state. This brilliant idea is from the same state government that wants to illegally raise taxes by calling them "fees" which allows legislators to circumvent the state Constitution. They also want to close a serious budget gap by slapping a surcharge on income taxes, a sort of tax on top of a tax.

I have a better idea for the energy commission - spend your time figuring out how to build more power plants and upgrading the state's power grid rather than trying to regulate consumer behavior. That's what we pay you for and we have plenty of environmentally friendly sources of electrical power, so let's build them. If I want a new TV, stereo or home theater system, it's none of your business which one I choose or how much energy it uses.

Now I'm off to the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to see the new energy-hungry power amplifiers for my stereo system. That will be their next target of regulation. Enough already!