10 US States Commit to LEDs

Ten US states have taken action to move lighting markets to LED lightbulbs. Policymakers from California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – have passed ‘clean lighting bills’, advancing their transition to more efficient LED technology.

Together, the ten states will cumulatively avoid 13.6 megatons (Mt) of CO2 by 2050.

The clean lighting bills mean that over 20% of the US fluorescent lighting sold will switch to LED.

‘Hawai‘i pays the highest electricity rates in the country, almost three times as high as the U.S. average,’ says Jodi Robinson of the Blue Planet Foundation, who helped lead the effort to phase out fluorescents there.

‘Energy efficiency policies, like adopting clean lighting standards, are the most cost-effective solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also addressing the high energy burden facing our island’s residents and businesses.’

Vermont and California, the first and second states respectively to pass clean lighting bills, are now implementing the change.

‘In Vermont, we are proud to have led the nation in moving to mercury-free lighting,’ said Paul Burns, Executive Director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. ‘It was always our hope that other states would quickly follow, and it’s wonderful to see that happening, thanks to some excellent advocacy and organizing work.’

The ongoing revisions to the US’s federal lighting policies are incrementally raising the required efficiency of lamps being sold on the market, slowly edging out the most inefficient and polluting products; however, there is an immediate opportunity to shut the door on costly lighting technologies.

‘There is global momentum around the LED transition and US states are leading the pack,’ said Ana Maria Carreño, senior climate director at Clasp, an non-government organisation that lobbies for environmental measures from governments worldwide.

‘A national clean lighting policy would benefit every household and business across the US and help usher in the next generation of energy and cost-efficient lighting, while preventing further mercury pollution.’

At the recent Minamata Convention Fifth Conference of the Parties (COP5), countries agreed to phase out fluorescents globally by 2027. As the US is a party to the Convention, both state and federal action will be crucial to carrying out the decision nationally.

More states are signaling interest in passing their own clean lighting bills in upcoming legislative cycles.

• Diary date: Circular Lighting Live 2024, Recolight’s flagship conference and exhibition, which takes place on Wednesday 9 October 2024 at the Royal College of Physicians in London. Free to specifiers, Circular Lighting Live 2024 will feature leading experts, specifiers and policy makers who will share their insights into forthcoming standards and legislation, emerging technologies and new business models. More info: www.circularlighting.live