How many socialists does it take to change your light bulb?

Millions.

All over the world – and right here in the U.S. – there is a movement afoot to ban the incandescent light bulb. It's one of the not-so-bright ideas put forward by Al Gore and his Oscar-winning pseudo-documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

If only people would replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs, we're told, we could cut down on energy use and "global warming."

Since socialists know that you are not smart enough to make good choices yourself, they have prepared to make them for you.

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Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., has already introduced legislation to set dates for banning the bulbs.

This follows action in the European Union, just weeks ago, to phase out incandescent bulbs within two to three years. Australia has taken similar action. Canada is well on the way to a ban. Similar legislation has already been introduced in California Legislature.

But guess where the drive originated?

Fidel Castro started the trend in Communist Cuba two years ago. His buddy in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, beat the rest of the West to the punch by emulating his hero and inspiration in Havana.

Is this a coincidence? Or is this move being orchestrated?

Some might suggest so-called "environmentalists" are behind the plan – and surely they are. But are they the driving force? Or is the real fuel for this movement coming from elsewhere?

You only need to scratch beneath the surface to learn that the largest light bulb manufacturer in the world, Phillips Lighting of the Netherlands, is lobbying governments all over the world for this coercive move.

Why? Presumably it's about money. Perhaps Phillips Lighting sees more profit in fluorescent bulbs than incandescent. Perhaps it is prepared to corner the market. Perhaps it is well-positioned for a major increase in demand.

I don't know. But I don't need to know. All I really need to know is that our choices about something as basic as lighting are about to be made for us.

The tiny minority of people pushing this down our throats explain that if everyone using incandescent light bulbs switched over to fluorescent, less energy would be required to produce the same light. My strong preference for incandescent light is, thus, irrelevant. We now live in a world where elites decide what is best for us.

There will be no informed debate tolerated on this subject any more than Al Gore would debate global warming with Vaclev Klaus.

And mark my words, 10 years from now – or even less – the same people demanding a switch to fluorescent bulbs will be hysterical about the environmental nightmare they created with their own plan.

What do I mean?

Well, there is at least one big problem with fluorescent light bulbs – maybe more.

They contain the deadly pollutant mercury. You can't just throw them in your garbage can when they burn out or they will break and contaminate land and water. Instead, you'll find out after this switch is mandated that you have to take the dead bulbs to hazardous-waste sites. Either that, or expensive new recycling programs will have to be instituted. In all likelihood, they will involve gasoline-burning trucks rumbling through your neighborhood and highly trained hazardous-materials teams.

In no time, it will be a criminal offense for you to throw away light bulbs in your garbage can – something you routinely do safely with those obsolete incandescents.

Yet that may not be the only problem with fluorescent lights. Studies have linked them with depression, suicide rates, skin cancer, anxiety, sleep disorders, attention-deficit disorders, electro-magnetic pollution, headaches, eye strain and DNA damage from radiation.

Now, I don't know if those studies are all accurate. I don't know if any of them are true. But I don't think Al Gore does either. I doubt very much if Fidel Castro cares. Because this plot has nothing to do with your well-being. It has nothing to do with heat and light. It has to do with money and power.

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Editor's note: The current global warming frenzy is exposed as never before in the March edition of WND's acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, in an issue titled, HYSTERIA: Exposing the secret agenda behind today's obsession with global warming."