Hitting Californians Where it Hurts

California is considering regulations that could incite civil unrest. Next to the automobile and the cell phone, televisions represent perhaps Califonians' most beloved possessions (at least in Southern California!). Now the state is talking about banning LCD and Plasma flat screen TV's -oh the humanity!!!

According to a post on climate ark:

"The most power-hungry flat screen LCD and plasma TVs could effectively be banned across California from 2011 under new regulations proposed yesterday.The California Energy Commission, which manages the state's energy policy, said it was working on new standards for TV sets designed to cut energy consumption across the state by the equivalent of the energy use of 86,400 homes.The commission is likely to target the most power-hungry widescreen plasma sets, which can consume up to three times more energy than traditional cathode ray machines.It said that a second wave of more demanding standards would then be introduced from 2013, which could target Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TVs that use 43 per cent more electricity than traditional models."

When the government wanted people to drive a Prius or install solar, they used tax incentives to push their point. This move to outlaw flat screen TV's seems out of character and, dare I say, ill fated...

California poised for energy-hungry plasma TV crackdown [Climate Ark.org]