They Will Control the Vertical and the Horizontal

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

That's a most appropriate quote given the way governments around the world are looking to invade your personal space and tell you what to do, what to buy, what to eat, and that's even as governments can't do basic things like balancing their checkbooks.

European governments are contemplating banning plasma televisions. Well, they're already looking to ban incandescent light bulbs, and the claim is that they're looking to slow electricity consumption. The real motivations are something else entirely.

Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions will soon be banned as part of the battle against climate change, ministers have told The Independent on Sunday.

"Minimum energy performance standards" for televisions are expected to be agreed across Europe this spring, they say, and this should lead to "phasing out the most inefficient TVs". At the same time, a compulsory labelling system will be drawn up to identify the best and worst devices.

The moves, which follow last week's withdrawal of the 100W incandescent lightbulb, are part of a drive to slow the rapid growth of electricity consumption in homes by phasing out wasteful devices and introducing more efficient ones. Giant plasma televisions – dubbed "the 4x4s of the living room" – can consume four times as much energy as traditional TVs that used cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

First, they come for your televisions, because they say you aren't being green enough. Next, they'll tell you what you can or can't watch. I wish that weren't true, except that there are constant rumblings about the Fairness Doctrine and the Europeans are ever more into censorship than American politicians are.

Global warming hysteria is only part of the problem here. The eco-leftists have made it difficult, if not impossible to build new energy facilities, not only in the US, but around the world. That means that new power sources to drive technologies that everyone takes for granted are failing to keep up with demand.

The governments need to do something to slow the increase, and conservation isn't going to get the job done. Taxing is the one thing that governments know how to do. Besides, all this demand will pale in comparison with the next innovation to cure global warming - the need to power up all those plug in cars we keep hearing about (such as the rumblings from Ford). Where is all the power for all those cars going to come from? Talk about demand for electricity? Plasma televisions are going to be the least of your concerns when you have millions of cars plugging into the grid and demanding megawatts of power so you can get to your jobs and sit in front of your computers.

If you're a global warming nutter who thinks all this government control and intervention is a good idea, I have a much better solution. Sell your television. Sell your computer. Downsize from your McMansion to something more appropriate (a studio perhaps?) All that energy consumption is doing incalculable harm (according to you). Also, hold your breath to save the rest of us from your carbon emissions. After all, its in our interests that you reduce your carbon footprint.

Mine is just fine as it is.

But here's the kicker - the manufacturers are already moving faster than the governments can act. Technologies are making plasma televisions obsolete, and will soon enter the market - LED and OLED televisions promise better contrast and color, and will require a fraction of power now required by either LCD or plasma televisions.

Something similar is happening with light bulbs - governments have tried to mandate CFLs, despite the issues with mercury, and that LED and other technologies have significant advantages, although they are more costly than the ubiquitous incandescent bulb.

Don Surber suggests that the Europeans are trying to regulate this particular market because they can't stand up against the Russians who are threatening to cut off natural gas supplies.

Energy efficiency is a good thing, but government mandates actually have unintended consequences that can be far more damaging than the intended solution. Consider that the ubiquitous SUV became the vehicle of choice because of CAFE standards forcing manufacturers to come up with puny economy cars. People didn't like those cars, and instead flocked to SUVs, which offered them the size, space and power they wanted. Millions rolled off showroom floors, and the fuel economy was never much of a concern. SUVs still outsell vehicles like the Prius by a significant margin. People wanted the room to carry their stuff, and SUVs were favored over the economy cars. That trend reversed for a few weeks here in the US when gas prices hovered near $4 per gallon, but that too reversed and soon SUVs were back rolling.

Some car manufacturers are embracing fuel efficiency more than others and many are providing new hybrid models in the hopes of attracting buyers. That includes a luxury model from Lexus. There are SUV hybrids like the Ford Escape and Saturn VUE hybrid, so if you want to pay the premium to get those hybrid models - go for it - just skip the moralizing.

If you want to go for more fuel efficiency, great.

I don't like being told what to do, especially by nanny state governments that are often clueless about what road to take and push unfunded mandates on people and taking control away from the individual and giving it to governments or utilities that work at their behest. Besides, the market operates far more efficiently than government ever can, and isn't busy taxing you to force you to change your ways.