Don't whine, just engineer

On November 18, the Consumer Electronics Association issued a press release in response to California’s new TV energy rules. In the release, the CEA uses the old and tired excuses for why the new rules are bad, claiming “It will result in higher prices for consumers, job losses for Californians, and lost tax revenue for the state.” We’ve heard plenty of these arguments before and they’re just plain old. What the CEA really saying is that they believe that the new rules will impact short-term sales.

First of all. I can’t imagine that these rules will result int any more job losses in California. How many TVs are manufactured there? Perhaps none. There may be a few job losses overseas where the TVs are made, but I doubt it.

Instead, the rules might result in a few more engineering jobs in California (assuming that any TVs are designed there). TV makers may set out to develop new technologies that will result in TVs that use less electricity that mandated bu the California rules. Of course, lower-energy TVs are widely available, so I doubt that many people will miss the energy hogs anyway. An article in The New York Times notes that even some plasma TV’s already meet the January 2010 power requirements.

So, instead of whining about the new energy rules, the CEA should encourage TV makers to innovate and engineer sets that meet the requirements and maybe even beat the requirements so that no new rules are needed. That’s good for engineeers and good for the Earth.

We should all demand more energy efficient products. We shouldn’t need these rules. But, we have them. So, start designing better products.