How One State’s Light Bulb Legislation Could Impact All U.S. Manufacturing

[The Straight Story]

Dueling Light-Bulb Laws

I'm talking about South Carolina's Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act - a trivial-sounding piece of state legislation that could open a significant loophole for states that are desperate to create jobs and drum up revenue.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 - a predating piece of federal legislation - decreed that all incandescent bulbs be phased out by 2012, and permanently replaced by their fluorescent and halogen counterparts.

That's where the loophole comes in. You see, South Carolina's light bulb legislation would let the state continue to manufacture and sell incandescent bulbs - so long as they were made and sold exclusively in South Carolina.

While South Carolina's attempt to nullify a federal law smacks of an antebellum crisis, the move may well work. That's because, according to the Supreme Court's 1935 decision in the case of Schechter Poultry vs. United States, the federal government does not have the power to regulate commerce that is entirely conducted within a state.

http://moneymorning.com/2011/05/20/how-one-states-light-bulb-legislation-could-impact-all-us-manufacturing/