They are outlawing incandescent light bulbs up here in Canada by 2012. Every time one burns out, I have been replacing it with a compact fluorescent light bulb. I like the idea of not having to replace bulbs as often, but I can't comment on either the over-all energy saving or their toxicity. What I can say, is that the fluorescent bulbs throw off a dimmer (somehow "less warm") light, that I have had problems fitting the "compact" fluorescents into some old housings, and that the fluorescent bulbs break quite easily.
I don't like government intervention. When someone tells me that technology B is sooo much better than technology A, and then proceeds to tell me that government coercion is required for the public to buy into technology B, I get suspicious. I would like to think that if compact fluorescents are really much more energy efficient that the market would gradually weed out their less efficient competitors without the need for government bans.
