California might ban plasma-screen TVs

Just a few years ago, 52-inch televisions didn't exist. Now, thanks to dozens of innovations, they're almost boring, and not even that expensive. Oddly enough, they're more efficient than the old CRT televisions...per square inch. The bad news is, as we've been exponentially increasing the square-footage of our televisions, so have we been exponentially increasing their energy use.

California, struggling to meet green power mandates while energy use has been steadily on the rise, is looking to tackle the problem at the source. By 2011, legislators are hoping that all but the most efficient televisions will be unavailable in California.

This might, in fact, completely eliminate plasma TVs from the market, as LCD televisions have been making more progress in efficiency than plasma. Of course, this wouldn't stop Californians from driving to Nevada, or ordering their televisions online.

Of course, the legislation could also have the opposite effect, forcing manufacturers to create more efficient sets for the (extremely large) California market, but also selling those sets everywhere. Less efficient sets would have a smaller market, and so be more quickly phased out.

If enacted, the first round of regulations would go into effect in 2011, decreasing user's electricity bills by about $20 per year. The second tier would come into effect in 2013, lowering bills by an additional $10.

I've seen what manufacturers can do to lower the power use of their sets, and I'm entirely confident that this can be done without a dramatic increase in the price of the units. And, really, if you want your entire living room wall to be a television screen...you should be willing to pay a few extra dollars for it.

Via The LA Times