[SustainableTompkins] Please call Senator Wright and Assemblyman Sweeney

[Nielsen-Palacios, Christian]

Adirondack Council * American Lung Association of New York State

Citizens Campaign for the Environment * Citizens' Environmental
Coalition

Environmental Advocates of New York * Friends of the Bay

Global Warming Action Network of Central New York * Group for the East
End

Hudson Riversloop Clearwater * Kids Against Pollution * Long Island
Neighborhood Network

Long Island Sierra Club * New York Interfaith Power and Light

New York Public Interest Research Group * Pace Law School Energy Project

Physicians for Social Responsibility/NYC * Renewable Energy Long Island
* Riverkeeper

September 14, 2007

Honorable James W. Wright Honorable Robert K. Sweeney

New York State Senate New York State Assembly

Legislative Office Building, Room 509 Legislative Office Building, Room
837

Albany NY, 12247 Albany NY, 12248

Dear Senator Wright and Assemblyman Sweeney:

Thank you for your efforts this past spring to try to update lighting
standards in New York. The bills you

sponsored and worked to get passed in your respective houses take
positive steps to help New Yorkers

use less electricity through lighting.

Improving the efficiency of lights will have multiple benefits for New
Yorkers. Lighting accounts for

about 20% of total electricity use. More efficient products use less
electricity, which lowers utility bills,

avoids pollution, and improves the transmission system's reliability. In
2005, the legislature and

Governor Pataki saw the benefits in creating energy efficiency standards
for a series of products and

appliances by enacting a bill sponsored by Senator Wright and
Assemblyman Tonko. It makes sense for

New York to build off of this legislation by amending the Energy Law to
set standards for lighting.

Senator Wright's bill (S.6190) uses this structure.

Light bulbs need to be modernized in New York. The incandescent bulb, as
we know it, has barely

changed since it was first created in 1903. Clearly the 21st century can
do better. A Compact Florescent

Light bulb (CFL) uses about 75% less electricity for an equal amount of
light and has a life span about 10

times longer than an incandescent bulb. A bulb utilizing solid state
technology, Light Emitting Diodes

(LED), requires even less power and also lasts a very long time.

The technology for more efficient light bulbs continues to grow and
change. CLFs are cheaper and better

at producing warmer (more desirable) light, and some can even be used
with dimmer switches. LEDs can

produce a wide range of colors and continue to drop in price. Even
incandescent bulbs can use

considerably less energy to produce the same amount of light, and
certain manufacturers plan to

produce higher efficiency incandescent bulbs within this decade.

Light efficiency legislation should set specific standards and
timelines. This will help light bulb

manufacturers better predict market conditions. It will also guarantee
specific energy savings. California

is doing just that, in legislation that requires regulations, by
December 31, 2008, to reduce energy

consumption for residential indoor lighting at least 50% below 2007
levels, set commercial indoor

lighting and all outdoor lighting standards, and create an enactment
date. We support and encourage

Page 2 of 2

New York setting a similar residential indoor lighting standard,
stringent commercial and outdoor

lighting standards, and a date when selling bulbs that fail to meet
these standards is prohibited. These

provisions are in Assemblyman Sweeney's bill (A.8641b), and should be
incorporated in the final

legislation.

One important issue that must be addressed as New Yorkers switch to more
efficient lights is the toxics

found in certain bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, a known
neurotoxin, which affects a

child's ability to walk, talk, and learn. The California bill creates a
recycling program for bulbs containing

mercury. New York needs to create a mandatory recycling program to give
residents a convenient way

to dispose of burnt out bulbs, while keeping toxic mercury from entering
our environment, as in

Assemblyman Sweeney's bill.

We encourage you to bridge the differences between these two pieces of
legislation and work to get a

bill passed and on the Governor's desk this year.

Thank you for your efforts to date and your consideration on this issue.

Sincerely,

Jason K. Babbie

Senior Environmental Policy Analyst

New York Public Interest Research

Group

Steve Breyman, PhD

Executive Director

Citizens' Environmental Coalition

Neal Lewis

Executive Director

Long Island Neighborhood Network

Adrienne Esposito

Executive Director

Citizens Campaign for the

Environment

Gordian Raacke

Executive Director

Renewable Energy Long Island

Lisa Rainwater, PhD

Policy Director

Riverkeeper, Inc.

Kyle Rabin

Executive Director

Friends of the Bay

Cathey E. Falvo, MD, MPH

President

Physicians for Social

Responsibility/NYC

Mannajo Greene

Environmental Action Director

Hudson Riversloop Clearwater

Jane Fasullo

Outreach Chair

Long Island Sierra Club

Robert DeLuca

President

Group for the East End

David Gahl

Air & Energy Program Director

Environmental Advocates of New

York

Scott M. Lorey

Legislative Director

Adirondack Council

Nick Byrne

Director

Kids Against Pollution

Richard Smardon, PhD & Ollie Clubb

Co-Chairs

Global Warming Action Network of

CNY

Walter Simpson

Co-Founder

WNY Climate Action Coalition

Fred Zalcman

Executive Director

Pace Law School Energy Project

Michael Seilback

Senior Director of Policy

American Lung Association of New

York State

Edward Bennett

President

New York Interfaith Power and Light