Great article steve. You really put this whole argument in perspective. I don’t believe the “stifle innovation” message at all. Tier one manufacturers have been looking to increase efficiency for years anyway. They should look at this as a great opportunity. If anything, stricter regs may squeeze out the cheap non-name brands that can’t compete on the technology side, just price.

Excellent, well-balanced and thorough article, Steve! When I read the press releases from CEA and CEDIA, all I could do was shake my head. While there may have been some valid points in their reaction, mostly it was obstuctionist bluster, calling California’s ruling “dangerous for consumer freedom” and saying the new regulations are bad because they don’t “allow customers to choose the products they want.” Sometimes overriding customers “wants” is the only way to protect the planet for the greater good, and the sooner we all get that, the better.

Utz Baldwin’s comments that CEDIA is “outraged” and that the organization will “continue to invest time and resources in this issue not only in the State of California, but as the issue is brought up in other states,” shows how irrelevant that organization has become. I’m glad my money is not going to them in the form of dues anymore.

The time to ignore or de-legitimize energy conservation and planet environmental concerns is long past. Smart people and organizations need to step up and do their part, before it’s too late to do anything.

The Nanny State will continue to take away our freedoms little by little until we no longer remember what it was like to be free. Now rulings like this come along nearly every day and people just shrug, or offer apologias like this.

Buddy’s Buddy, with all respect, you’ve been duped. The whole “green movement” is nothing but a scam, cooked up to get more control over your life. The notion that the infinitesimal differences in power consumption between TVs has some impact on “the planet” is laughable.

And frankly, screw the planet. I want my freedom.

Typical California.  When is that state going to fall in the ocean!  sheesh it is taking forever!

WOW…  I believe we should obivously take care of the earth but this is total crap.  Again more control by government.  This is all about money people…  Wake UP!  They are trying to create a new industry overnight and we lose more and more freedoms.  I don’t understand why we are putting up with this.  This is America, at least I thought it was.

On one hand you have Miilions of people sucking up more energy than ever before in a state that doesn’t have enough….
On the other hand - This isn’t a big deal since most ALL TV’s are way more efficient than they were a couple years ago. My 40’ Hitachi used 680 WATTS. Thank god it’s dead. The replacement uses only 280 WATTS AND I don’t have to run the AC to cool the room (add 1600 watts) while watching TV!
This simply encorages what is already happing.