My highly respected scientist friend Dr. James De Meo sent this article to me about CFLs...(compact fluorescent lighting). Up until now, I had no idea about the dangers of mercury in the light-I was primarily concerned with the cancer causing electromagnetic fields.
Dr. DeMeo also mentioned that when he posted information about the dangers of CFL's on his website that several people emailed him with threats and accosted him verbally-calling him another "right-wing" nut (I put it nicely). I can attest that Dr. De Meo is no such thing and prides himself of sticking to the truth of science and not getting into biased politics.

He made another interesting point about the groups that are forcing and pushing CFL's on us are the same people who were pushing for "nuclear" energy 15 years ago...

This is another case where we need to stop compartmentalizing our brain and looking at things in a black and white-"fluorescent" light!

Consumers in dark over risks of new light bulbs
Push for energy-saving fluorescents ignores mercury disposal hazards

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Posted: April 16, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Joseph Farah
© 2007 WorldNetDaily. com

Brandy Bridges of Prospect, Maine, shows a newspaper insert promoting
the type of CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs she says have caused
elevated levels of mercury in her home upon breaking (photo courtesy:
Ellison American)

WASHINGTON – Brandy Bridges heard the claims of government officials,
environmentalists and retailers like Wal-Mart all pushing the idea of
replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving and money-
saving compact fluorescent lamps.

So, last month, the Prospect, Maine, resident went out and bought two
dozen CFLs and began installing them in her home. One broke. A month
later, her daughter's bedroom remains sealed off with plastic like
the site of a hazardous materials accident, while Bridges works on a
way to pay off a $2,000 estimate by a company specializing in
environmentally sound cleanups of the mercury inside the bulb.

With everyone from Al Gore to Wal-Mart to the Environmental
Protection Agency promoting CFLs as the greatest thing since, well,
the light bulb, consumers have been left in the dark about a problem
they will all face eventually – how to get rid of the darn things
when they burn out or, worse yet, break.

CFLs are all the rage. They are the spirally shaped, long-lasting
bulbs everyone is being urged, cajoled and guilt-tripped into
purchasing to replace Thomas Edison's incandescents, which are being
compared to sports utility vehicles for their impracticality and
energy inefficiency. However, there is no problem disposing of
incandescents when their life is over. You can throw them in the
trash can and they won't hurt the garbage collector. They won't leech
deadly compounds into the air or water. They won't kill people
working in the landfills.

The same cannot be said about the mercury-containing CFLs. They bear
disposal warnings on the packaging. But with limited recycling
prospects and the problems experienced by Brandy Bridges sure to be
repeated millions of times, some think government, the green
community and industry are putting the cart before the horse
marketing the new technology so ferociously.

Consider her plight.

When the bulb she was installing in a ceiling fixture of her 7-year-
old daughter's bedroom crashed to the floor and broke into the shag
carpet, she wasn't sure what to do. Knowing about the danger of
mercury, she called Home Depot, the retail outlet that sold her the
bulbs.

According to the Ellison American, the store warned her not to vacuum
the carpet and directed her to call the poison control hotline in
Prospect, Maine. Poison control staffers suggested she call the Maine
Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection.

The latter sent over a specialist to test the air in her house for
mercury levels. While the rest of the house was clear, the area of
the accident was contaminated above the level considered safe. The
specialist warned Bridges not to clean up the bulb and mercury powder
by herself – recommending a local environmental cleanup firm.

That company estimated the cleanup cost, conservatively, at $2,000.
And, no, her homeowners insurance won't cover the damage.

Since she could not afford the cleanup, Bridges has been forced to
seal off her daughter's bedroom with plastic to avoid any dust
blowing around. Not even the family pets are permitted in to the
bedroom. Her daughter is forced to sleep downstairs in an overcrowded
household.

She has continued to call public officials for help – her two U.S.
senators included. So far, no one is beating down Bridges' door to
help – not even Al Gore, whose Academy Award-winning movie, "An
Inconvenient Truth," urges everyone to change to CFLs to save the
planet from global warming.