Thank goodness for the electrical industry and its non-stop pursuit of greater energy efficient technologies. As the New York Times reported yesterday, LED technology is joining CFLs in taking a bite out of our energy bills.  As the NYT article notes, LEDs -- light emitting diodes -- are no longer just for traffic lights, DVD players, and cell phones. Because they last for years, and because they use only 15 percent of the energy of incandescent lamps, LEDs are being tested for street and parking lot lighting, under-counter lighting, in commercial refrigerators, residential bulb replacements and office lighting, illuminating the outside of buildings, and a host of other uses.

The inspector likely wouldn't have been so knowledgeable two years ago. But over the past year the NEMA circuit breaker members put together such a sensational marketing campaign that their property- and life-saving product is now widely recommended -- including by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Fire Protection Association, and now by a growing number of state officials. It's just one example of how our electrical manufacturers are helping American households increase their living standards.

Even though the last two revisions of the National Electrical Codes have called for the installation of AFCIs into new homes, it's up to state legislatures to officially adopt these rules. The bad news is national and state home builders associations have targeted state AFCI provisions for defeat. The good news is state legislators thus far have overwhelmingly sided with those who favor electrical fire protection.

We still have a ways to go before Americans fully understand the importance of AFCIs and other new technologies that can prevent electrical fires. Still, the progress we've made over the past year has been remarkable.

But Mr. Kaplan flirts with myth-making himself when he tries to debunk the notion that "U.S. manufacturers can save themselves by investing in innovation." His rationale for ridiculing this "myth": private-sector companies can't put nearly as much money into R&D as foreign governments. That's true, and there are plenty of things our own government can do to help make R&D in this country cheaper. But while government subsidies make it less expensive to do business, they doesn't necessarily or even typically help companies innovate. As the Council on Competitiveness points out in a report called "Measuring Regional Innovation," there are many factors that lead to innovation. Financial capital is one, but so is human capital (how talented are your people?), the legal and regulatory environment, and even the culture. As history has demonstrated, for innovation give me a small, nimble company in the Silicon Valley or even along the I-270 corridor over a large, bureaucratic monster like Airbus anytime.

Several years ago the NAM published a book on "U.S. Manufacturing Innovation at Risk" that explained the critical role that innovation plays in lifting our living standards. According to economists Joel Popkin and Kathryn Kobe, U.S. manufacturers could indeed "save themselves" through innovation, even in the face of subsidized foreign companies. Yes, it will take help from the government, not through subsidies, but through clearing a path for innovation -- including a renewed commitment to science and math at the K-12 level, and the elimination of workforce, investment, and policy obstancles to domestic production and competitiveness.

It's very important topic for discussion in this country. Too bad it only comes up every four years.

We know we're making progress on the energy efficiency front when our products start appearing as adorable mascots.

Take a gander at how the the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron is promoting energy efficiency at Peterson Air Force Base. Is Pete Light cute enough to squeeze or what?

(Lawyer's notice: NEMA recommends against squeezing actual CFLs.)

That's because last week at its annual meeting in Toronto, the Edison Electric Institute announced the creation of a joint program between EEI and NEMA to procure and provide efficient distribution transformers ahead of the DOE 2010 mandate. Energy losses through the transmission and distribution of electricity have historically hovered in the 7% range -- a little less than half of which is due to less efficient transformers.

In an economic climate where energy costs continue rising, this new program represents yet another sensible measure by electrical manufacturers to squeeze more performance from our existing electrical system.

DOE did have some friendly encouragement from Congress to launch the contest. Last year's energy bill authorized up to $20 million in award money, and the requirements to enter follow the general requirements for high-efficiency lamps that are outlined in the legislation. Lightbulbs that meet the requirements would consume just 17% of the energy used by today's incandescent bulbs.

But the real reward comes in the energy savings for our society. If every household converted every light socket from a 60-watt incandescent bulb to a 10-watt lamp (which, with new technologies, will be capable of providing comparable lighting qualities), the country would save 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in a year -- enough to power the lights in 17.4 million American homes. It would also prevent the emission of 5.6 metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

NEMA's lighting members, of course, have been promoting this concept for awhile. And now they've launched their own public awareness campaign, "enLIGHTen America," designed to educate building owners, operators, and executives who make decisions about upgrading lighting products in un-renovated buildings. This summer, the campaign unveils a virtual exhibition that will highlight the next generation of innovative and energy efficient lighting systems.

"Sixty-four years ago today I was jumping from an airplane into a French field," he said, pointing at his cap.

And in a flash I remembered what today was. "Ah, D-Day. Thank you, Warren."

Those of us who have lived our entire lives after the tragic -- and ultimately victorious -- events of the 1940s owe our WWII military saviors our gratitude. While the passing years continue reducing the number of Normandy vets, memories of that day can be found all over the Internet. Take the time today to look at some of the photos and stories from that bloody and courageous battle.

And if you know of any WWII vets -- especially someone who survived Normandy -- give them your thanks. Today is as good a day as any to do it.

Naturally, with the arrival of another hurricane season coastal states are encouraging residents to stock up on supplies that will keep them out of the dark. Virginia, for example, is offering a state sales tax holiday through May 31 to encourage purchases of flashlights, lanterns, batteries, portable generators, etc. The arrival of a new hurricane season is also a reminder of our need for a modernized electrical grid that can manage electrical demand and damage to the system more effectively. What was once just a pipe dream -- of interoperable systems and advanced monitors and energy storage capabilities -- is moving closer to reality, as NEMA and others work closely with NIST laying the foundation for just such a "Smart Grid."

If this initiative is successful, in years to come your risk of spending hours (and even days) in the dark after a severe summer storm will diminish significantly.

"Depending on people to make a hard choice every day -- don't turn on the lights so much -- is a less-promising solution than getting people to make a hard choice once, [for example, paying more for a high-efficiency bulb] and thereafter having the 'save energy' decision be automatic." Travis Reynolds, graduate student, University of Washington

That quote appeared in an article in the WaPo this past weekend -- a far more candid perspective on the shortcomings of the "green movement" than we've come to expect from that newspaper. The problem, according to the Post article, is that environmental symbolism often overshadows actual substance.

Ya think?

The WaPo article uses Earth Hour as an example. On March 29 people in cities across the world turned their lights out for an hour in a symbol of their commitment to save energy. For the most part individuals and companies do this kind of thing because it looks good -- or because not to do it in their community looks bad. But as the article notes, "if everyone who participated in Earth Hour had left their lights on and instead switched to mundane, high-efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs," energy savings would be 1,368 times greater because the bulbs would have saved energy all year long.

That's consistent with our message on Capitol Hill: There are a myriad of products on the market today that alllow consumers to achieve huge energy savings, from CFLs and programmable thermostats to NEMA Premium electrical motors and energy-efficient washing machines. As Mr. Reynolds notes above, Americans simply have to make the hard choice once, and put substance over form, to really make a difference.

I was reminded of this law again yesterday when I learned that even Smart Grid has its detractors. As I've noted in past articles, Smart Grid is a plan to modernize the electrical supply and distribution system by adding monitoring, analysis, control and communication capabilities to increase capacity while reducing energy consumption. The benefits for society are vast -- starting with a more effective electrical distribution system, greater energy efficiency, and increased security from natural and man-made threats. Not only does this require investments in new technology and upgraded equipment, new transmission lines are necessary to create a more effective inter-regional grid.

And that's where Newton's Third Law comes in. His "equal and opposite reaction" has arisen in the form of The Wilderness Society. The Society doesn't like the U.S. Energy Department's decisions regarding where to place new transmission lines. So it petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to block DOE's designation of new tranmission corridors. Yesterday, Smart Grid Newsletter -- a joint effort of DOE, the GridWise Alliance, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory -- allowed the Society to explain itself. In the process, the Society pays plenty of lip service to Smart Grid. For example, the writer maintains that,

To ensure a secure power supply, the United States must design a forward-looking electricity grid.

And,

The Wilderness Society shares the vision of a modern, secure electricity grid for the benefit of future generations.

Glad to hear they appreciate the importance of modernizing the electrical grid. Not enough, however, to keep them out of court. As inevitably occurs when we're talking energy policy -- whether it's building new nuclear plants or allowing for new natural gas exploration or siting new transmission lines -- America's green police have once again determined that the public good is better served by blocking such progress. It'll be interesting to see if the Society, or any other national or local environmental groups, will ever be able to point to any tract of land that is suitable for new transmission lines.

This year's Top 100 is fairly typical of its four predecessors - there's a noticeable emphasis on people involved in environmental and other favored social causes, as well as medical specialists. There are names you would expect on any list of influentials, such as George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, and names you just have to chuckle at, such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Some obvious choices pop up, but for strange reasons, like NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, selected for his environmentalism.  And there are, I'm happy to say, a smattering of top manufacturing executives, including Steve Jobs of Apple, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, India's Ratan Tata of Tata Motors, and GE's Jeffrey Immelt (whose company profile now stretches far beyond the manufacturing sector).

But my interest lies elsewhere. When reading these lists I generally skip through the big names and turn my focus to those behind-the-scenes innovators who help raise our living standards. Time's done a commendable job tracking down engineers and scientists and entrepreneurs who are making a difference not just on our health, but in the way we live our lives. Like Jeff Han, the computer science researcher who designed multi-touch sensing screens. We see political analysts and weathermen using these on TV today, but we'll be using them soon enough at home. And Mary Lou Jepsen, the creator of "One Laptop Per Child" who designed a solar-powered laptop with a wireless system that creates its own network - ideal for children in remote parts of the world. And Isaac Berzin, the chemical engineer who founded GreenFuel Technologies and now makes algae that not only can be used as a biofuel but also gobbles up CO2 in power plants.

At NEMA we're fortunate to work regularly with individuals doing their own behind-the-scenes influencing -- working on new lighting products that will reduce energy consumption, or traffic sensors that will reduce congestion and accidents, or new communications systems that link emergency services with schools and retirement homes. While these folks won't ever be recognized on such a scale as Time's "World's Most Influential People," we take heart in the fact that these individuals too are influencing the world.

Recognizing that the STOP Initiative is only one President's program, and that America's strongest industries are those that enjoy high rates of innovation, creativity and intellectual property protection, Senators Evan Bayh and George Voinovich introduced the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Act (S. 522), which would permanently institutionalize the STOP program and promote further improvements in the way intellectual property enforcement, both domestically and internationally, is managed here in the United States. Recent studies by the Government Accountability Office have shown how further improvements in the management of our nation's IPR enforcement programs can be achieved.  Similarly, the House Judiciary Committee approved the PRO-IP Act (HR 4279) yesterday, a comprehensive piece of intellectual property rights legislation that also includes in Title III IPR enforcement coordination provisions that draw on elements of the Bayh-Voinoivich legislation in the Senate.  The House is expected to vote on HR 4279 in the coming weeks. 

The stage is now set for the Senate to take up IPR enforcement legislation.  The Bayh-Voinovich legislation contains two elements that were not taken up in the House-passed PRO-IP Act that deserve the Senate's consideration:  (1) the engagement of the Office of Management & Budget in the group of agencies that play a role in more effective management of government resources devoted to IPR enforcement, and (2) improvement of international enforcement programs by calling on the United States and those other countries who are similarly committed to effective IPR enforcement to lead in the development of an international enforcement network.  OMB involvement will ensure that those in government who are experts in effective management and assessment of performance will bring the needed critical analysis that measures what we are doing right and what can be done better.  OMB can be accountable to Congress in this respect. The international network of countries who are committed to strong IPR enforcement ensures that as standards and best practices for effective law enforcement are agreed to, we do not become bogged down in reaching for a lowest common denominator that is characteristic of other international fora. 

In addition to considering S.522, the Senate should also embrace the more comprehensive approach to IPR enforcement legislation by not only looking at the other provisions of the House-passed PRO-IP Act and other legislation pending in the Senate such as Senator Leahy's and Senator Cornyn's Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007 (S. 2317) , but also passing legislation that adds dedicated IPR enforcment resources, both in terms of personnel and appropriations, to the key government agencies.

But the NEC isn't a federal mandate ... it's a code that gets revised every few years through a consensus process. States must then officially adopt it. Unfortunately, as state legislatures consider the 2008 NEC this spring, homebuilders are opposing the AFCI provision. In at least four midwestern states -- Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky -- the opposition of homebuilders has postponed implementation of the new safety measures. NEMA's field representatives, along with other proponents, are scrambling to educate state lawmakers about the benefits and costs, and urging that the code be adopted. And EFSI has placed a video on the importance of AFCIs on its website.

With National Electrical Safety Month upon us, it's as good a time as any for state legislatures to get on the ball and promote a little home safety.

With a lot of conflicting information out there, NEMA decided to place a FAQ sheet about CFLs on its website. Visit the site and you'll learn that a typical CFL has 5 mg of mercury, barely enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. And that reductions in mercury emissions from reduced power generation far outweigh mercury emissions from any type of lamp disposal activity. You can also learn more about recycling bulbs at www.lamprecycle.org.

CFLs are just the starting point for a broad new generation of energy-efficient and "smart" lighting emerging on the market. Our FAQ page should help assuage some of the concerns about them. It'd be a shame to see such promising technology dumped before it even gets a chance to prove itself.