President Donald Trump on Monday defended his effort to keep incandescent light bulbs in the United States.
“They were forcing you to buy lightbulbs that cost a fortune, so I signed something a couple of days ago that gives you the right to use the incandescent light,” he said. “Much less expensive.”
The president spoke about light bulbs during a political rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in which he highlighted his administration’s dramatic regulation cuts to boost the economy.
Last week, the Trump administration rolled back Barack Obama-era requirements for energy-efficient bulbs which threatned to phase out incandescent and halogen bulbs by January 2020 in favor of fluorescent or LED bulbs. Even Bush-era Republicans voted for and supported phasing out the cheaper bulbs in favor of more modern expensive bulbs that use less energy.
Trump commented that he looked better under incandescent lighting.
“I’m not a vain person … but I look better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down on me,” he said.
He ridiculed the new light energy-efficient bulbs for having dangerous toxins and gases in them.
“If a bulb breaks, it’s considered almost like a waste site …the new bulbs, they’re very dangerous with all of the gases,” he said, referring to the labels that warn consumers not to break the bulbs.
He explained that the rollback of the regulations would allow consumers to choose whether they wanted the new bulbs or not.
“You’re going to hopefully buy the new ones, but you can buy the old ones too, and you can save a lot of money and you can even look better,” he said.
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