Economy
A Requiem for the CFL Light Bulb
General Electric is flipping the switch on the harsh, energy-saving bulbs that divided a nation.
The harsh white glow has gone out, but its memory will live on.
Light-bulb manufacturing giant General Electric announced this week that it’s cutting off production of compact fluorescent lamps to put more energy into building LEDs. The soon-to-be-defunct CFLs were invented in the mid-1980s but really hit their peak in the 2000s, when they became inextricably linked with the sustainability movement due to their lower energy needs. They also faced criticism from consumers who hated the stark, grating light they produced or considered them a tool of crypto-fascist government encroachment into the personal lives of citizens.