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State considers ban on big screen TVs
March 23rd, 2009, 3:00 am · 177 Comments · posted by BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento Correspondent
In their continuing quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, state regulators have uncovered a new villain in the war on global warming : your big screen TV
Couch potatoes, beware.
The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take 25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them 40 inches or larger.
“The larger the television, the more at risk it is of being banned unnecessarily in California,” said Douglas Johnson, senior director of technology police for the Consumer Electronics Association.
Association officials say the standards are not only unnecessary – because the federal government already regulates energy efficiency through the voluntary Energy Star program — but also ill-timed. The last thing our economy needs now is products taken off the market, they say.
Furthermore, they say that with a weak economy, consumers are going out less and watching TV more.
“This is really about regulating entertainment, not energy use,” Johnson said.
Poppycock, says the commission.
Affordable big screen TVs will still be available under the new standards, spokesman Adam Gottlieb said. In fact, he said the regulations will save you money.
The commission calculates that if you buy televisions meeting the proposed standards it’ll cut your annual energy use by — drum roll, please — $18 to $30 per television per year.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to save money,” Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb said the commission is exploring the regulations to reduce the strain on the energy grid and to avoid building new power plants.
Televisions are the fastest growing consumer appliance in California. Californians are buying bigger TVs, and more of them. If something doesn’t happen, televisions are going to devour a bigger and bigger piece of the state’s power grid, which means we’ll need more power plants. More power plants mean more greenhouse gas emissions.
“Consumers aren’t aware of the hidden cost of powering these things,” Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb insisted that the regulations wouldn’t eliminate big screens from California stores. But the commission’s own draft report says TV energy use is “proportional to the screen size.” And there’s no doubt the regulations will limit energy use.
So if you’re in the market for big screen TV, now might be the time to buy. The regulations are expected to be approved this summer.
Want to weigh in? Email the Energy Commission with your comments at appliances@energy.state.ca.us.
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In our home we enjoy our 52 in flat screen. It is the first time my husband has been able to see a TV since PXE took his sight overnight 15 years ago. We also find we can turn down the heating because of the heat being given out by the TV. However, I do see that in your climate you could do without this heat and would likely turn up the aircon.
Sorry, forgot to say - we live in The East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Adding yet another new dimension to the concept of the “nanny state”.
this state has gone insane. they are hellbent on turning this nation into a third world country. Build the darn power plants. The government has allowed several million people into this state. It is their job to provide the energy needed for these arrivals and the rest of us to keep up our lifestyles.
OR send them all packing and reduce the population to pre 1950.
Another CLASSIC example of a bunch of bureaucrats in Sacramento, who couldn’t regulate the thermostat in their own home, proposing something incredibly stupid. How much do these part-time “Commissioners” [are they part time or full time] get paid for their policy initiatives???
Clean up the big issues before you start picking on these small things.
BTW, I don’t own a flat panel TV. Are they going to make me give up my CRT-based TV?
the people of California deserve everything these boneheads think of…they elected them…
These are the same type of people who are pushing for Electric automobiles. What effect do they think that will have on the power grid when thousands of owners plug them in and charge them every day?! id10t$
Jim Edwards,
Not all of us voted for them, BONEHEAD! I wish people would stop bunching the entire population of California as all the same. Many of us DO have the sense God gave us.
So. I simply have to buy my next big screen on the internet???
Dumb Idea.
stoopid, I may only watch less than 1/2 of what someone else watches,….. so maybe they should regulate how long people watch TV, yeegods
More big brother stupidity because of a condition (global warming) that doesn’t exist. Notice how they’re starting to call it ‘climate change’ now? That’s because the earth is now cooling! Its just a big Al Gore hoax people.
Cali. has been the land of the idiots for quite some time.
Calif.never ceases to amaze me . I’m so glad I moved from there after 47 years.It’s not called the land of fruits and nuts for nuttin.
HERE HERE!!!
Finaly someone with some sense!!!!
This is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in ages. Seriously California is turning into the land of the idiots!
Well said. A government of morons and little kids.
“The commission calculates that if you buy televisions meeting the proposed standards it’ll cut your annual energy use by — drum roll, please — $18 to $30.”
————————————————————————–
I would rather ban illegals and save $13 billion a year. Keep your hands off my TV and out of my wallet.
You have the only right idea. Enough is enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next will be told how many cars,furnishings,Children & pets we can have.
I think they have the pet quota already. I left Cailf.. a few years ago…… have they started pulling people over for smoking with a child in the car? Or if you are a KNOWN smoker not smoking outside your own house if you have children?
How ridiculously stupid! California has told its citizens for decades that electricity is the way to go. Homes are built with electric stoves and ovens to save natural gas. Now we’re being manipulated to conserve electricity to prevent building new electricity generation plants? Big screen TVs? What about all the PCs in use? What about the electric cars being charged with the push for consumers to put more on the road? I’m sorry Calif Energy Commission, but you’ve got your collective head up your as… head burried in the sand! Build the generation plants so Calif can continue to be a technological leader and stay away from our BIG screen TVs!!
“More power plants mean more greenhouse gas emissions.”
Only for the blind idiots that are responsible for Ca. Emissions and Energy policies.
Build a few clean nuke plants- zero emissions and we stop the farce that is Ca buying power from out of state coal plants while posing as Enviros.
I live within 10 mi of Rancho Seco. Retro it and fire it up.
These commissions are just looking for easy ways to justify their high paid State & County jobs. We should cut their budgets and save the state $$$.
Also- AGW is a scam. Arnold is an not helping when he pushes his AGW agenda as the state falls into disarray.
(sorry I just can’t stop)-
How much Carbon was ejected into the air from the last 2 years of huge Ca. forest fires? Another failed policy as they prevent the logging industry from harvesting forests. They must have missed the study that new/young growth forests consume ≈ 30% more CO2 than old growth.
Welcome to Ca, How’s everyone liking the new tax increases?
Obviously, Adam Gottlieb must have overslept and missed his Econ 101 class. If 25% of the TVs are taken off the market, then how do you suppose these stores are going to make up the difference? Hmmm? Buehler? Buehler? Ding! Time’s up. The answer is — THEY WILL RAISE THEIR PRICES.
Gosh, we can save a whopping $18 to $30 on our energy bills?! Well, whoop-de-doo. I suggest implementing a ban on all those emissions seeping out of Sacramento.
Just another example of government intrusion into our lives, folks. When are we going to wake up and do something about it?
Thanks to the Register staff for helping to whip up the public anger at anything the government does.
However, you left out a few salient questions. Would this prevent anyone from getting a TV of a particular size? Would it raise the price of TV’s?
Does the fact that average electricity use by Californians has been flat for the last 3 decades, while it has increased by a lot for the rest of the country have any bearing on this?
Inquiring readers might want to know. Real journalists might give us answers.
Here’s your answers:
“Would this prevent anyone from getting a TV of a particular size?”
No, probably not. It’s not about limiting the size, it’s about limiting the selection. Hey, while we’re at it, why not just require that ALL cars be electric.
“Would it raise the price of TV’s?”
Yes. (less supply, more demand…basic economics)
“Does the fact that average electricity use by Californians has been flat for the last 3 decades, while it has increased by a lot for the rest of the country have any bearing on this?”
No, just because CA may have used a ridiculous amount of porportional energy in past decades and now may be on par with the rest of the country has no bearing on this.
typical liberals,
.
We tell you what to do and how to live your lifes, cause we know whats best for you. Just give us all your money and freedoms and we will take care of you.
.
Sorry the last time I checked I thought I lived in the land of the free. It’s my money and if I want to buy a gigantic TV and a huge SUV and don’t mind paying the bills for it then why shouldn’t I.
.
Why doesn’t this California commisiion look into building a another Nuclear Power Plant to offset Green House Gas Emissions. But that is never their answer to energy problems. Instead they want to regulate the public. What a upside down twisted state we live in.
Our State government has run us into bankruptcy that will last a decade, if it can be fixed. Fixing seems doubtful because the legislature and Governor can’t stop spending and can’t balance a checkbook.
Now they turn to the old saw, greenhouse gasses. Is there anything that excuse doesn’t cover? Looky here…….another opportunity to tax folks!
Can door to door inspections be far down the road? “Open up in the name of the Law!! We’re here to count your TVs!!
Marc960,
They are already knocking on the doors in the UK to count television so you can pay an annual tax on each of them.
How long until California starts taxing the number of sets you have? That way they can collect sales tax when you buy it. Tax on the energy usage. And then tax the TV itself.
Sheer madness. My wife is from Southern California and vows never to move back for a number of reasons including the outrageous taxes working people have to pay to support all of the non-working ones.
ever wonder why the left embraces the CONCEPT of global warming despite the mounting evidence against this wacked-out theory?
it is the perfect socialist tool. Just look at how many ways can they control how you live your life.
We aquiesce yet again to another regulation absurdity. When did the common man become so dependent on someone else to micro-manage his life? Didn’t his government run schooling prepare him to be an independent and capable adult? Apparently his government doesn’t think so.
The state could save alot of money by just gettting rid of California Energy Commission…we could save hundrends of thousands a month. Think of the energy savings by just doing that!
This is just stupid! I thought we needed to buy more big screens to save the economy O.o;
I arez confused
Sounds like somebody didn’t get their palm greased.
Once again, the California assembly proves it is intent on socially engineering our lives, limiting our freedoms and taxings us all into personal bankruptcy. Banning large tv sets not only is ridiculous, it proves to the rest of the nation that this state is indeed the land of fruits and nuts.
Will NEVER happen. Another waste of time by a commission that is costing us millions of dollars a year.
Everybody gets all worked up about one controversial police shooting and claim a police state is around the corner. The public should really fear this sort of restriction, where the state can regulate the type of TV one owns. Remember it was just last year that the California Assembly wanted to regulate our residential thermostats under the global warming scare. This is the real concern of the police state.
The nanny state strikes again.
So how is this supposed to be bad for business? You know TVs are NOT made in America. Forcing the Asian manufacturers to produce efficient TVs sounds like a win to me. The same thing was done with refrigerators years ago, to everyone’s benefit, including the manufacturers. California led the way.
Just another example of how this state plans to rule by decree and extort more money from it’s residents. I think I’ll move back to Hawaii and take my 60 inch Hi-Def TV with me. Another step toward “socialism” under the watcful eye of the NObama/Arnie administrations!
come on now everyone, isnt this the hope and change that everyone voted for?
BS!!! We are living in a socialist country if they think they can tell us what we can or cannot buy.
Dear legislatures: READ THE F’ING NEWS! http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/study-west-antarctic-melt-a-slow-affair/?hp You are fools if you think that taking big screen TVs away is going to make any difference, and you are only hurting our economy. What on earth is going to stop anyone from going online and buying from another state? Oh look, another bit of money leaving California because you guys are too stupid to put the economy first.
MASS RECALL!!!! REMOVE THE LEGISLATURE! REVOLT! REPEAL! RECALL!
Lauren,
Sorry to say but the state can prevent someone from buying from out of state. I live in a state where it is against the law to ship certain things. They tell you right on the pages that they cannot ship to my state.
All they have to do is make it a crime for the company to ship the merchandise to your state and the company to protect itself will say “sorry, no can do”.”
For an example check out some leather goods, like Python Skins, it is not legal for them to be shipped to California due to your laws. Rattlesnake Skin is not available in California or Oregon. Ivory was banned for import years ago to help prevent poaching.
These are goods I just learned about (the leathers), as I know someone who is doing leather work. So if you think they cannot stop you then think again. They will get you on a different level by making it a crime for the company to ship to you.
amen Lauren…it’s like we are living in the bizarro world run by retards - state and federal!
Thank you Lauren for confirming my position. What’s next? Regulation of the beds we sleep in? Regulation of the coffee makers we use? OOPS! I shouldn’t have planted those seeds in the minds of the idiots in Sacto!!
HUH? You have got to be joking…..How do we stop all the hot air gases coming out of Sacramento???
You are going to have to pry my remote from my cold dead fingers.
And they couldnt stop anyone from buying it from out of state and installing it.
While we are regulating,,,,,can I get a special handicapped operating permit for my big screen since my eyesight is bad?
I’ll hang it on my front door when the enforcements start.
this is ridiculous, what causes more harm to the environment, big tv’s or big suvs? why don’t they band big suv’s too, that’s a better band if you ask me!
OMG. Now will the State create a TV police agency to conduct no warrant entries into our homes to check the size of our TV’s? 45″ TV = 5 years in the big house?
Boy, I’m sure glad that budget mess was fixed, our economy in California is in order, the dropout rate has gone down, illegal immigration has become a thing of the past, gangs are but a distant memory, so that pressing issues such as this can get the attention of the legislators and bureaucrats.
Who votes for these idiots?
Amen, Grunt41!
Thanks, Obama….not
And then they raise our electric bill because we don’t use that much electricity any more.
And then they tell us how much we are allowed to watch TV.
And them they tell us how often I get to make sweet love to my wife.
What is this? China. Cuba
Or it’s those commies that want to turn this state and country into a socialist or communist regime.
I hate those stupid voters.
California started requiring energy-efficient refrigerators in 1976, and the federal government followed suit in 1990. The SAVINGS are equal to all the hydroelectric power generated in this country, and the consumers have saved billions of dollars. What’s not to like about such a scenario? It could be repeated for TVs.
I’M VOTING FOR THIS:
I would rather ban illegals and save $13 billion a year. Keep your hands off my TV and out of my wallet.
These Liberal tree hugging freaks want to take away: guns,bigscreens,suv’s,clothes and meat from animals,and wide variety of other products! Then they want to tax you to death to cover all this BS! All you idiots have voted for these MORONS!Gov has all the answers and are going to solve our problems,F’n joke!
It is time to vote every member out of the senate and assembly. Then, vote out the governor.
Time to start over with a clean plate. If you see incumbent on the ballot, vote for the other person.
INTERNET SHOPPING = SHIPPING FROM OUT OF STATE & NO SALES TAX!!!
Betcha Al Gore has a wide screen TV he’s watching while dumping gases in to the Ozone on his Lear jet, while flying to another speach about “going Green”
I say fix the budget first and once you get a handle on that, Then we’ll talk TV’s? Are these guys idiots or what?
The biggest cost savings ban we could have in California is to ban the current crop of elected representatives.
Idiots! OK let’s ban California Retailers from selling Big Screens. Another nail in the coffin. I guess these num-nuts have yet to discover the internet.
These tree huggin, fish kising liberals honestly believe that there going to stop technology. Even if the banned the shipping of these units into the state people are going to get them.
I can see it now. Couple guys driving around the local Home Depot parking lot on a Saturday morning, …..” Hey Dude, yeh you, Want a hot deal on a big screen….we got a couple in the back of the van if your interested,….”
How about banning all TV’s not made here in the United States? Oh… I guess that wouldn’t leave us much, if anything, to choose from.
Oh, go ahead, try to take my big screen TV. You’ll have to do it with me sitting on my sofa with my beer, pretzels, and my .45 caliber.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t want Californians to watch his movies on small screens. If they start banning Big Screen Televisions, what’s next? Ban cars, ban businesses, ban cheeseburgers? Walmart????
More bureaucratic nonsense from Sacramento.
If they want to cut back on greenhouse gasses and reduce electrical demand, here is a proposal: Turn off the air conditioners in all government buildings and cool them with fans. If I see government actually cut back, I might be inclined to go along with their idea. Since I know that won’t happen, I will purchase my big screen TV in Arizona or Nevada and the Californai will lose their sales tax.
The idea that i’d save “18 to 20 dollars annually” while the state gouges me for more and more in taxes every year goes beyond absurd. I think the inmates really are running the asylum.
That means California would ban larger plasma TVs. Instead of this nonsense California should control the immigration growth and build more nuclear power plants. The state is just toying around with mini energy sources like solar and wind, while letting in the floodgates across the border for exponential population (and electrical use) growth.
It’s time that the people of California storm Sacramento and remove these whacko legislators! we should remove Arnie while we’re at it!!
Just how are we supposed to believe that “Global Warming” is going to change our weather over the next 20 years when our local weathermen can’t even the weather right 5 days in the future??
These enviromentalists are becoming more and more looney by the minute!!
This is getting ridiculous! I hate these libertards and tree huggers that feel they need to tell us how to live! Global Warming? I froze my butt off at Disneyland the other day. WAKE UP people, we are losing our freedoms! I say lets ban ILLEGALS, the GOVERNOR, and all the other inept politicians that are our to take our rights away.
wow, what a bunch of morons to even think this would sound reasonable…it all started with banning certain firearms, then it escalated to motor vehicles, then the smokers. Hell, I can’t even have a smoke in my own car while I have a child younger than 16…WTF…think about folks, these crappy legislators want to take a lot more from you, this is just the beginning., these legislators have nothing but time on their hand since this is their full time job..C
mon no wonder they can’t get a freaking budget passed,they are too worried about the climate change(or whatever the hell they call nowadays)..this state will very soon turn out to be a republic just like it states in the flag..Ever hear of the Peoples Rupublic of China and Korea..hmmm!
Decreasing the number of models available does not decrease the total number of TVs available! Manufacturers just make more of the remaining models. Plenty of larger screen TVs do meet the energy use guidelines, and they cost no more than the energy hogs.
.
This article is typical Register garbage. Yeah, go out now and buy a TV before they come out with an equivalent model that uses less electricity. That’ll show… someone…
The article states that this is a proposal. Send your comments to Title24@energy.state.ca.us.
The biggest cause of global warming is the hot air coming out of Sacramento. Our modern big screens are more energy efficient than the old ones we used to have. I doubled my screen size and use less electricity but that’s not good enough for our elected officials that need to dream up crap like this to somehow prove they’re doing their job.
Well as one whose “big” TV is 19 or 20″ and we’ve done fine with that for a few years now (and actually used to watch the 13″ TV in the kitchen maybe more than the larger one) I still think this is crazy.
If they want to encourage energy efficiency beside the Energy Star ratings that are already out there, maybe they could provide for some energy consumption disclosure at the point of sale.
While I don’t at all see the need for these expensive big screen TVs that are purchased by some people who can’t afford to save for retirement or college or even pay their rent (priorities anyone?) I also don’t think its up to the govt to regulate everything. And especially for CA to propose more economy hurting proposals in a down economy. I guess they want the downturn to last much longer here in CA than the rest of the country.
Easy…I’ll just buy online, or just pick one up in Vegas next time I scoot over for a weekend trip.
Maybe we should all look at the California Energy Commissions page to find out the truth.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/tv_faqs.html
Soooo who can afford a big screen anyhow nowadays??
This is the dumbest load of crock ever.
Another wonderful day in California. Here in California, we treat illegals like citizens, and we treat citizens like garbage. You too can pay $450 a year to register your Hummer, but please leave your big screen in another state because we’re conscious about global warming.
This seems akin to those stupid and useless prop 65 (or whatever # is is) warnings that we find when we enter most business establishments warning that there are cancer causing things that may be present somewhere on the premises.
Of course since the warnings are everywhere and general in nature I guess the only purpose they might serve would be to protect the proprietor in the case that some harm might come from something they sell.
I guess there really are some dangerous things around but you sure can’t tell from the warnings and since they are almost everywhere without apparent regard to actual risk, we have to ignore them. And thus aren’t warned, really, where there might actually be enough toxic or risky substances around to actually harm us. Oh, but someone feels good because they are warning us of danger, no matter how useless and counterproductive the warning might be.
But that’s the kind of stuff stupid bureaucrats dream up, and that actually got passed by the people (there may have been some good things in the bill, I’m not sure. That was so long ago I don’t remember.) I actually had someone from an environmental dept in CA defend that. I don’t even know what the actual law says about that, but you’d think someone would wake up to the fact that they are useless as they are currently used and of course add to the costs we all pay as companies have to buy those little warning notices.
so, johnadams, did you suddenly move back to CA or something?
DONT BAN THEM!!!!!!!!!!
TAX THEM ON PURCHASE.
AND A “BROWN NOT GREEN FEE” for excess energy use ….
only ,only, only if the money goes to green programs not general budget.
tax hard alcohol AND HAVE MONEY ONLY OG OT REAHB PROGRAM NOT GENERAL MEDICAL or GENERAL BUDGET.
legislate -every city must allow reHab programs equal to number of liquor licenses. YOU BREAK EM - YOU FIX EM.
dont tax not cigarettes to go to generalor families fund is ONLY TABaCCO health care PROGRAMS.
so poor SMOKERS arent supporting those ON SCHP? with 80K FAMILY OF 4
aNd never accessing services from what they pay.
How about banning all the stupid liberal politicians who live in mega mansions whose electric and gas bill in one day is more I pay in two years?
Also throw all the illegals out of here
They spew more green house gas than 100’s of millions of big screens!
Sacramento-
I have a 2 KW solar system on my roof. Can I please keep my 62″ TV?
signed,
Mind your own damn business
The People’s Republic of California
I agree with Tax Payer… get rid of the illegals and save our precious state millions of dollars.
Well, here we go again! Big Brother and his long arms are finally reaching into even the most basic rights of the consumer. What kind of television we buy. What next? What channels we can watch? I mean, why not? If we are not watching a channel that promotes the “green” movement, maybe that channel should be banned in the tarnished state.
Is this still a free country? And why are we keeping these idiots in government?
Let me tell these idiots the American way is tax the crap out of big screen tv, not banning it.
Just when I think the state couldn’t be any stupider another dumb idea pops up. Banning Big Screens?? The worst thing is that these dumb politicians aren’t embarrassed with themselves for bringing up these insane ideas.
I used to brush off stuff like this but I am getting a bit worried about this State and the crackpot ideas coming out of it’s politicians who seem to really lack common sense. It really is frustrating.
Well one good thing may come out of all of this. Maybe the sheep who have been led along by all the promises of goodies are starting to wake up with the tax increases due to start next week and this stupid plan that is typical of the socialist, big govt, nanny, mindset that so many of the legislators seem to have.
So if they keep making stupid proposals like this maybe eventually enough people will wake up and vote them out of office. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
It just amazes me that the moonbats on the left have absolutely no problem stomping all over everyone’s rights under the sun (from TV bans, to foie gras bans, to whatever), but then freak out, filling the streets with protests when a majority of voters bans something THEY support, like gay marriage.
It’s like no one is capable of learning the dangers of a “nanny state” - if you think you have a right to ban one thing, someone else is going to think they have a right to ban something else.
This article doesn’t make sense to me because with the economy the way it is, I don’t see people rushing out to fill their homes with TVs. If that was the case, Circuit City wouldn’t have gone under. As for the need to build new power plants, I wonder if they are taking into consideration the move to compact fluorescent and LED bulbs? As more and more homes and business adopt such technologies that will more then offset anything a TV does. We don’t need yet another law on our books.
I say let the power go off, then you can set your prioities about what you need. Look around you house and you will see dozens of devices sucking power when you are not even using them. I went from a 1500 house to 2000 sq.ft house several years ago and I installed a high efficency furnance and refrigerator, my bill went down.
When your AC goes off in summer and you’ll be blaming some one else for your behavior, again
Another really dumb idea brought to you by our stupid legislators!
Well Mr. Gottlieb, you say you don’t know anyone that doesn’t like to SAVE money..how about the state and federal government, I think they enjoy spending money especially our money, just another idiotic attempt at sticking it to the people..This is becoming quite sickening.
This is lame, I switched from the old school 40 inch CRT TV to 42 inch LCD. Now my bill dropped about 20 -30 dollars a month! The real problem with my experience is the CRT TV. State should encourage people to switch to HDTV and not limit their choices.
This concept is too stupid to even comment on.
Oops.
Wow. I can save 18 bucks. How about if I just not purchase a new TV and disconnect my cable service. Cable service alone will save more that $1200 per year and throw in a savings say another $20 bucks a year for electricity. This would help pay the addtional California taxes.
Cars and other vehicles pollute far more than a television. If people buy a new 52 inch LCD or plasma, they will stay home and watch, taking cars off the road. Problem solved. Thes people need to get out of our lives.
Funny, I came across this article just minutes after my bride and I agreed on a firm date to move to Texas later this year. This is just more motivation to escape! I’ve absolutely had it with this police state’s nanny regulations over every aspect of our lives. I can’t wait to return to a free state where I pay no state income tax, can carry a gun without donating $100,000 to Sheriff Hutchens, and can enjoy the freedom that Americans are supposed to have. SoCal is very beautiful and I will miss it but it is not worth dealing with this ever-increasing nonsense.
Land of the Free, eh Comrade?
Oh yeah, this now-bankrupt state will lose even MORE money (sales tax) by banning big-screens. If retailers can’t ship here then people will simply drive to AZ or NV to buy a TV.
And they say we have so many freedoms in the US. If you can’t even own a TV of the size you want, how much freedom do we really have? Are they going to start charging people who use rabbit ear antennas by driving around in a van with a detector for signals? What’s next?
Just another poppycock commission that can’t think outside the box so they come up outrageous ideas to make themselves feel important. Dear Commission, you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you had any common sense you most likely would be. Go out and get real jobs and we citizens will save real energy by not worrying that people like you are in any position to make idiotic suggestions like banning big TVs. This idea just goes to prove once again that the world is upset down and that those in public positions are incompetent, lazy, and just plain stupid.
First the toilets, then the TV’s…this is how Mao rose to power!
Man, I sure am glad I moved to another state
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0B_UZNtEk4
Thank you Tom Turkey for the video. I just got back from commenting on the other article about the state banning smoking on state beaches.
We as a people better wake up and wake up fast before we do have to face the government not only prying our guns but our TV remotes as well FROM OUR COLD DEAD HANDS.
I put a brand a new flat screen TV in every room in my house.
I drive a Hummer, I’m upside down on the payments and spend hundreds on gas every month.
My credit card debt is always justifiable.
I live in the biggest house in my subdivision.
I put a brand a new flat screen TV in every room in my house. I make sure they are all hooked up to cable, with every premium channel package.
I buy my children all name brand clothes, and the newest technology. I make sure to replace these things as soon as they are no longer in style. Image and popularity are top priorities.
When we entertain, it’s only with the top of the line name brand food and alcohol.
I am now going to protest at a “Tea Party”. Why? Because our liberal government needs to stop wasteful spending and follow the fiscal conservatism that us the middle class practice every day at home.
Hussien,
I take it your post is sarcasm and some kind of weak attempt to cast judgement on people who actually make money and enjoy the fruit of said labor.
Save it because guess what here in America “the land of the free” people can have whatever priorities THEY CHOOSE and spend their money anyway THEY WANT.
The government is SUPPOSED to serve the people. Remember “for the people, by the people”. They are employed by us with OUR TAX MONEY,,, so yeah if we want them to stop wasteful spending that would be a reasonable request since it is OUR MONEY.
I can’t believe the State government is even thinking about these things. Come on, talk about only going for low hanging fruit. Please fix the BIG PROBLEMS FIRST! Our State is going to go down in flames because the State government can’t get their heads out of their butt. They care more about voting to keep their jobs rather than making the hard choices to keep this State from falling apart.
I am definetely not voting for any incumbents at the next election.
I am beginning to think that the state of california is turning into some type of communist country! lol
Here’s my solution to save money: Leave Kalifornia. It’s not worth it to me anymore as a business owner. They can stick their 10% income tax and all the other fees, not to mention insane regulations like this that mock the citizenry and insult our intelligence. The problem with this state is that while about 3/4 of counties are conservative, the other 1/4 are highly populated coastal counties like LA and SF that are full of brain-dead, left wing wacko pothead types who want to punish the rest of us who work hard, out of greed and envy (like idiot Hussein above). Unfortunately they have enough of a majority to stuff the legislature with their nutjob representatives and continue to drive normal people out of state.
THEY’LL HAVE US FARTING IN PLASTIC BAGS BEFORE YOU CAN SAY “COW FLATUANCE.”
This is what the people of California vote for and this is what they get–a government that will tax you to death and control what you do, even in your home or when you drive your car. Stop your whining unless you plan to vote the current flock of dems and repubs out.
Of course NO ONE will remember garbage legislation like this or Feinstein’s call to keep solar and wind energy production out of the desert when November rolls around. Voters have short, forgiving memories. Ridiculous.
What the heck, California is such a nany state. we have loosers like feinstein in office who says I promote green tech, but not in my back yard, and then the peoples republic of California wants to tell me what size TV I can or can not buy. Personally I have no need for a bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbig A$$ TV but I still don’t have the right to tell others who do…
What Idiots think up this crap…Big Tv’s are not cheap… every one wants one… that means big TAX money the state gets for every one sold…..
Of all your stupid backwards Over spending and wasting every tax dollars i give this state….
ya this is smart … run off something that makes lots of money and gives the state so much tax… U sneek in 16 dollar per screen waste disposal fee ……….. wont that cut into that stupid tax too…
Idiots all of them…we need to deuche every one of them and start fresh
Hey! Here’s a great idea for the TV manufacturers that sell in California. This legislation creates a great niche market for these guys. They can call it the California Big Screen Bundle which would include not only the TV itself but a solar panel sized for the particular TV. Not only would they still have a market for the TV but a new market for the solar panels to power it. Keeps everyone happy…..even battery manufacturers (for those cloudy days and nights). Idea needs some work but could be a way around Arnie and his crew.
Great more problems with this retarded state,i work for dish network LSC and if this passes that means HD programming cuts,less work,customer cancelations,way to make the economy better by putting more jobs in danger dumbsh*ts,means more unemployment pay costing the state even more $$.Its time for change get the F@!k out of our state.By the way i have have a 52 inch lcd and your not taking sh*t from me
There’s going to be ONE HE– OF A BIG PILE of BIG-screen T.V.’s somewhere, lol…
Oh, wait…we can RECYCLE them, right? Get maybe 15 cents a pound for them!?
Bunch of RUBBISH!
You’ve got to get past my front door to GET MY T.V. you bunch of low-life, oops…can’t go there.
Back on track; Does this mean that our GOVERNATOR is the FIRST to give up his 12 bigscreens?? That’ll be the day!
P.S. They say that we will SAVE 18 dollars a year per T.V. WOW!! Let me do a little mathematical calculation…..buzz….bing…pop! An AMAZING 34 1/2 CENTS A WEEK!! Let’s all just voluntarily give up our BIG screens to help out this great state of confusion. Right? WRONG!
If there is ever open season on stupidity the legislatures in California would not last 5 minutes. IF there were ever a bigger group of incompetent idiots in the world please tell me where. Also to the rest of the country, this is where you are headed to take notice, the good old USA will be there in about 6 years. Stupid and Broke.
I live in CA and I’m so sick of this garbage. These people do not know what they are doing. I wish we had representatives who had some brains. It is such a great place to live, but these people are messing it all up. What a bunch of idiots.
I don’t even have a TV or cable, but something like this makes me want to go buy the biggest TV I can find.
Another System rule I will ignore.
So falling sales tax revenues be damned - global warming wins out. LOLZ!
Here you go all of you “freedom loving” democrats. Just sit back and watch the Goverment take away your freedom bit by bit. First it was the “financial crisis” so we need to take your freedoms. Now its “global warming” so we need to take some more. They will keep finding excuse after excuse and the ignorant, brain dead morons that support this rediculous government will shout you down and tell you to obey because they know what is best. This disgusts me.
Will the last California *taxpayer* please turn off the florescent light on the way out the door?
“More power plants mean more greenhouse gas emissions.”
BUILD NUKES, DUMBASS!!!!
Geez. Some people just don’t get it. How about this idea instead to stimulate the economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions of printing 3 Trillion Obama dollars. Expedite permits for the numerous nuke plants going in all around the country? This will cost ZERO Obama funny money, and will create a TON of jobs, provide more power to the grid, can possibly decommission some coal plants, and reduce our overall emissions. Why is this so hard?
Greenhouse gases are a lie designed to get the useful idiots to pay more taxes.
I’m self-employed, haven’t filed in years, eat what I want, watch what I want, listen to what I want, and believe if all of the politicians were kicked out of the country, our standard of living would improve. By the way, lawyer = politician.
The current government is a bunch of TV celebs elected by timid, frightened people. If you believe their lies, go ahead and get rid of your TV and let them rape your paycheck some more. I refuse to recognize this government anymore, since they appeal to histrionic morons who can’t control their lives. I’m in control, free, and will stay that way no matter what THe enEmY do.
How about banning the importation of illegal immigrants. That’ll save $12Billion a year!
I just visited San Francisco this past week and this does’nt suprise me one bit. The people that live in this state are f***ing crazy!
Control,Control,Control, That is what it’s all about.
FREEDOM!!! DOES THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? A society not protected by the freedoms fought for and upon which this nation was built WILL NOT BE DONE AWAY WITH BY NIT-WITS WITHOUT A BRUTAL BACKLASH AGAINST THOSE WHO THE GOVERNMENT TWITTS WORK FOR. YES, YOU WORK FOR US.
YOU WILL ALL BE UNEMPLOYEED IF YOU STEP ANY FURTHER DOWN THIS ROAD!!!
I have no pitty on any person living in California. If you still live there you must love to be taxed to death and told how to live you lives. I can not beleave that a group of hippies from the 70’s has turned that state into a moraly and fiscally broken state. California used to be the envy of industry and business, now people can’t move out fast enough.
BUILD NUKES = LOTS OF ENERGY = NO GREENHOUSE GASES…
If you want to go after the biggest consumer use of electricity in California, BAN AIR CONDITIONING.
from, shinola
I’ll drive to Nevada to buy my next TV just like the people in OR driving to Idaho to buy dish soap. I’ll enjoy burning fossil fuels all the way out there.
The Green Movement is the new Red Movement.
I suppose its too late to give California back to Mexico. Rats.
Are you people STUPID!? How long are we going to let the government run our lives? They tell us what kind of toilets to have, whether we can eat trans fat on and on and on…. now what kind of TV’s we can own!! You do-gooders don’t have a clue that you are just giving the government more power over our lives! You fools! Everyone will now go to Arizona or Nevada to buy a TV! You morons!
“More power plants means more greenhouse gas emissions.”
Ah, yes… it always comes back to the “greenhouse” gas emissions, as if they are a problem in need of being solved.
First, carbon dioxide is NOT a pollutant. Second, it does NOT cause the climate to change.
CO2 represents .03 percent (Yes, that’s right: 3 one-hundredths of 1 percent!) of the total atmosphere. CO2 increases or decreases as part of our solar system’s natural cycles. The sun is the catalyst that sets in motion events that cause the CO2 fluctuations. In fact, they lag behind temperature changes by about 60 years due to the oceans absorbing/emitting CO2 over decades following temperature decreases/increases. In the past, when CO2 was EVEN HIGHER, humankind thrived. It allows for more food production because more land is available for agriculture.
This is all about controlling people by telling them there is a crisis where NONE exists. Screw the global warming religious zealots! Rebel, people!!!
THESE COMMUNISTS NEED TO BE RUN OUT OF OFFICE! CALIFORNIA, GET A BACK BONE AND STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS. THESE PUKES WILL TAKE ALL YOUR FREEDOMS AWAY!
Every dollar spent on a big screen is one more dollar unavailable for confiscation via taxation.
Less money for California businesses, more money for Amazon.com.
Maybe the rest of the country will get lucky and California will finally slide into the ocean. This doesn’t surprise me coming from the people that inject stuff into their face and lips. I wonder if they think of these things when they take the drugs that are given to them after they implant things into their bodies for the pain. Maybe there should be a tax on that. God help the USA.
Get a life! Obviously this crowd has too much time on their hands. Closer to a “nanny state!”
How about asking manufacturer’s to cut back on the emissions in future TVs, rather than turning CA into an even less desirable state. That’s what we did with automobile emissions.
Thank God I don’t live in that hell hole on the leftist coast.
Ahhhh….you voted for it…YOU GOT IT!
Democrats are so wise……
Please ban them I will open stores just inside the AZ boarder where you can buy them. Thanks
Absolutely smashing idea! First they ban smoking cigars in clubs and bars, then they ban black cars, then they smack it down hard on big screen tee-vees! I love it! Then again, since about 90% of the Mexican population is living in California, and the formerly Golden State is headed rapidly towards third-world status, who cares? Beaners don’t need tee-vees and cars anyway, they have pinatas and mules! Si se PUEDE!
They want to avoid building new power plants. What do they think they will need to do anyway as the population grows and they force all of us to drive hybrid or full electric vehicles.
Conservation on goes so far and we have reached out limits.
Memo to government officials - you’re job is to ensure we have the proper infrastructure and you have FAILED BIG TIME. We don’t have enough water storage, we don’t have enough electricity, our roads and bridges are falling apart and your answer is to conserve.
The time has come for a new revolution to toss out the pseudo intellectuals who govern from their ivory tower without any understanding of reality.
I say that the biggest way to reduce waste heat in California is to end excess hot air production coming from the statehouse in Sacramento! Let’s un-elect these overcontroling school marms before they make living and breathing illegal!
Have our politicians lost there collective minds. Oh that’s right they are not for the people anymore keep on with this thinking and we will be living in 1984. Give it about two more years of Lord Obama. Welcome to the new order, roving armies of government agents controlling our lives.
It’s going to be a joy having the Federal government take care of all my needs. God help us!!!
“The commission calculates that if you buy televisions meeting the proposed standards it’ll cut your annual energy use by — drum roll, please — $18 to $30 per television per year.”
What the commission fails to mention, which is a sleight of hand, is that the reason it cuts annual energy use is because there are less large tvs available to buy. The new “average” tv would be significantly smaller than before, therefore the average energy use would drop. The only reason one would save money is because people would be forced to purchase a smaller, and therefore less energy intensive, television.
Can you say NAzi control! This is government gone wild, and it is only the beginning
I am for not watching TV … but this way save the planet?
How much LSD do people still take out there?
They can have my 50″ Plasma when they pry it from my cold dead hands.
WAKE UP, you robots!!!!
TAKE BACK YOUR GOV. !
TAKE BACK YOUR LIVES!
WHERE ON EARTH IS THE COMMON SENSE OF YOUR CITIZENS??
California Uber Alles!
When big screens are outlawed, only outlaws will have big screens.
Nevada, here I come for the consumer items banned in this state! LOL!!!
I guess everyone in California will now go to Nevada to buy their televisions. How big of a “carbon footprint” will be left driving 500 miles roundtrip to get the TV you want?
No wonder California is in so much debt - - -a bunch of morons are running the state!
Why not just put a big tax on the larger TVs like the gas guzzler tax on vehicles?
When does the exodus from California start? This is what the liberal voters want/get. Big brother in your house now. Go ahead an give up another freedom. See where it ends, if it does.
Sing it Rob!!!!!!!!!!!!! To another I saw a response from…yes, you’re right, we should remember that not all Cali residents voted for those in power. In the defense of the person who alluded that Cali people kind of deserve what they get: THEY do, and of course, you do not. As a person from the midwest, it is easy to lump all of you together. We don’t do it on purpose, honest, but it’s easy to assume when ‘you’ appoint Pelosi, Boxer, Lee, etc…year after year. I hear you brother, and wish more were like you in California. I really do.
omg, nothing like the possibility of having their teevees taken to shake up the couch potatoes of this state. Seriously, with everything that is going on, THIS is what you are angry about?
I wish there was a nationwide TV shuttoff day…imagine the brainpower that would be used.
Wow, maybe I could finally plan that big trip to Europe with that extra $18 a year! Yahoo!
Seriously, what knuckleheads. I only watch a small amount of TV. Maybe they can pass a law that turns off your TV for the day after you watch for an hour. …
duh
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I would totally buy the biggest tv I could find then run that bitch off of a gas powered generator with a 5 ft smoke stack that is burning 10w40 motor oil 24/7 while smoking cohiba’s, spraying my lawn with chemicals to paint it green and tossing empty cans of blue ribbon into the street..
You people need to take a look at the regulations before you decide that the folks in California are crazy. Take a look at the refrigerator you have today. It uses 1/4 the amount of electricity and has many more features that those 20 years ago. Why? The folks in California put in energy efficiency standards and appliances like refrigerators. The same standards they want to put on ALL televisions. TVs and other entertainment systems are now using about 10% of our home electricity. They are not banning anything. They set standards and the TV makers have to meet those standards. This is a good way to make sure that the manufacturers are using the best and newest technologies. Already, 400 models meet the standards that (if approved) would go into effect in 2011. If there were no government standards, we’d still be driving cars without seat belts!
I’m sure the defense contractors who use these large LCDs in their work will be just thrilled with the state of Utopifornia’s bureaucratic chowderheads messing with equipment used in national security activities.
Of course, the chowderheads never think in terms of non-commercial applications, because the screens they want to ban are wider in inches than their collective IQ.
DUMB. big brother is watching.
next they will tell me how many sheets of toilet paper i can use!
the “green” obsession is a fraud!
killing old people will be next way to save energy/resources.
ban cigarettes-they r not good…and see the people revolt.
Wow. Really? ….Screw this Country. I’m moving to europe..
This is unacceptable. What’s next on their list of telling what we can’t buy? Computers? Food (I think they already are doing that) Furniture? The state is out of control here. Our economy is in the tank and some yahoo in Sacramento is worried about the size of a TV that you can or can’t buy.
i dont live in california but i would just drive my vehicle to another state and buy a tv all the way there consuming all i can to make up for the little amount of energy they are trying to save. or maybe they are trying to save energy by making you so fed up you pack your bags and leave?
Perhaps they should also ban large breasts. More energy is spent pursuing those items than large tvs.
They wanna make crack legal, and big screens illegal…….wtf?
OK, we get together, caravan to Medford, OR and buy our TV’s there. No sales tax either!
I think it’s a great idea! While they’re at it they should ban any Mansion over 5,000 sq ft. Those mansions consume more energy than any average sized home ever could. Arnold and all those millionaires would have to live in about a 2,000 sq. ft. home Oh, and ban swimming pools in California. Water pump, heater, lights, etc. are pulling some serious kilowatts. Pools have got to go! Sports arenas are sucking the living daylights out of the power grid. They’ve gotta do away with arenas. Tanning salons have got to go as well. Think about the electricity all those tanning beds are stealing off the power grid. I personally hate 50″ TV’s. If we all keep purchasing and watching 50″ TV’s it will be the end of us all. The only good TV is a 40″ or even a 30″… What great ideas and potential good bans!
I guess STATE of CA has nothing better do…. Arnold should embrace AMISH lifestyle next starting from himself…. INSANE….