Sacramento - AB 1109 by Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) cleared the full Assembly today and is headed to the Governor’s office for consideration.  Supported by all three major lighting manufacturers, along with numerous environmental groups, the bill calls on the California Energy Commission to set efficiency standards designed to substantially reduce California’s energy consumption for lighting over the next 10 years – with a goal of improving the efficiency of indoor lighting by 50% and commercial and outdoor lighting by 25%.  The bill also requires manufacturers to reduce levels of toxic mercury and lead found in lighting products.

“Last year, the California Legislature and the Governor signed into law a landmark global warming bill that is now seen as an international model for combating the harmful effects of global warming,” said Huffman.  “AB 1109 builds on that legacy of leadership by addressing one of the greatest unnecessary producers of greenhouse gasses – inefficient lighting technologies.  By passing and implementing this bill we could reduce CO2 emissions by six million metric tons per year.  That’s one of the most potent “early actions” California can take to achieve our ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction objectives.”

AB 1109 also requires manufacturers to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of toxic heavy metals such as lead and mercury in lighting fixtures.  Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.  An extremely potent neurotoxin, one tablespoon of mercury is enough to pollute a 20 acre lake beyond acceptable health standards. The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 10 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk to neurological damage.

“AB 1109 proposes a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to energy conservation and pollution reduction for lighting,” said Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization and sponsor of the bill.  “By taking this step, California can conserve resources and protect the environment in this state as well as create a model for other state’s and the nation.”

In a letter of support for AB 1109, Philips Lighting Company writes, “California can, by enactment of energy efficiency legislation for lighting, lead the way toward nationwide energy efficiency standards with enormous environmental and economic benefit.”