This week the House failed to clear the two-thirds vote hurdle to overturn the ban on standard incandescent light bulbs. Still, opponents of the ban, which begins at the start of next year, insist that the bill's future is bright.

The light bulb ban was part of the 2007 energy bill. It will outlaw the sale of traditional 100 watt bulbs starting in 2012. Many Americans dislike the new fluorescent bulbs, which give off less heat and are more energy efficient, because they don't like the quality of the lighting. The new bulbs are also much more expensive at a cost that can range between $25 and $50.

The Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, which would repeal the ban, won a 233 to 193 majority this week. But because the bill was voted on under "suspension" rules, it required a two-thirds majority. In retrospect that move looks like a tactical blunder. "We were surprised how few Democrats voted with us," says a spokesman for GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, a sponsor of the bill. In the end, only five Democrats voted to repeal the ban.

Environmental groups like the National Resources Defense Council maintain that the ban will save consumers some $14 billion a year in energy bills. But what these outfits have never explained is why, if the new bulbs are so superior, the government has to force people into buying them. Many Americans are now hoarding the old bulbs before they are outlawed for sale in the U.S.

"The American people are overwhelmingly opposed to the government telling them what kinds of light bulbs they can and cannot buy," says Myron Ebell of Freedom Action, a coalition group that supports light bulb choice. "The fight to repeal the light bulb ban has become a classic battle of the people versus big business special interests and their environmental pressure group allies."

Republicans botched this first vote, but Mr. Barton is promising others. The repeal of the ban may be voted on during normal rules requiring a simple majority, or it may be added as an amendment to the energy appropriations bill. "People should have a right to decide what kind of light bulb they put in their own bedroom and bathroom," says Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "What ever happened to keeping the government out of the bedroom?"
