Poll: Thoughts on the Phase Out of 40 & 60 Watt Light Bulbs

The environment is an area I’ve written about before, including energy use and lighting. If you haven’t been paying attention, you may be in for a shock:

Starting Jan. 1, the U.S. will stop manufacturing and importing incandescent light bulbs in favor of ones more energy-efficient.

The phase out started with 100-watt and 75-watt incandescent light bulbs in 2012 and 2013. The last phase out will include the 60-watt and 40-watt. (Source)

Stores may sell their current inventory, the government is slowly forcing us to switch to more efficient lighting choices. Before you blame President Obama, he was just a Senator when the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush.

Now that we’re at the final stage of the incandescent bulb phase out, I’d like to know your thoughts so the poll this week is: 40 & 60 watt incandescent light bulbs on store shelves are the last ones, thoughts? 

I’ve provided a variety of answers but I’ve also given you the option to enter your own answer. The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Have You Witnessed or Experienced Racial Discrimination Within the Last Two Years?

Issues of race are nearly impossible to understand in one simple question. For a more in-depth look at race issues I find Pew’s research helpful:

Blacks are much more downbeat than whites about the pace of progress toward a color-blind society. They are also more likely to say that blacks are treated less fairly than whites by police, the courts, public schools and other key community institutions.

While these differences by race are large, significant minorities of whites agree that blacks receive unequal treatment when dealing with the criminal justice system. (King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities)

The perspectives of different races is not really surprising.

The poll question this week asks if you’ve witnessed or experienced racial discrimination within the last 2 years. I don’t expect those responding affirmative to be a huge percentage, but I’m pretty certain it’ll be greater than zero. The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How Should Missouri Treat Marijuana?

The poll this week is an exact duplicate of a poll from last April, I want to see if there are any changes as a result of legal recreational marijuana in Colorado as of January 1st.

The results of the poll in April were:

1. Fully legalize 71 [53.38%]
2. Legalize for medical / decriminalize for recreational use 32 [24.06%]
3. Keep it illegal 21 [15.79%]
4. Legalize for medical use only 6 [4.51%]
5. Unsure/no opinion 3 [2.26%]

We’ll see if the current results differ from last year, the poll is in the right sidebar. Mayor Slay’s campaign website currently has a 10-question “mini-poll” on marijuana.

I’ll share more thoughts with the results on Wednesday the 22nd.

— Steve Patterson 

Poll: What Name Do You Use For A Vehicle For Hire?

In the last 4-6 weeks I’ve taken 5 taxicab rides: a morning meeting, three parties, and to the ribbon cutting of Fields Foods on Friday.  That’s more rides than the rest of my 23 years in St. Louis combined!

What I’m curious about is the name people, and companies use, to describe the vehicle. Here are the three most common names:

• Taxicab
• Taxi
• Cab

To my knowledge, they’re interchangeable. To an extent, we probably use all three at one time or another. What I’m looking for in the poll this week is the name you use most often, the one you’d blurt out first. The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: St. Louis’ Glass is Half Full

Going into 2014 most readers are optimistic about St. Louis’ future:

Q:  Is St. Louis’ glass half full or half empty?

1. Half full (optimist) 86 [76.79%]
2. Half empty (pessimist) 19 [16.96%]
3. Unsure/no answer 7 [6.25%]

Overall I’m optimistic, but I still get frustrated with the painfully slow rate of change. I wonder if Paul McKee can get enough developed in the next 6.5 years that we’ll have even a slight population increase in the 2020 census?  That would do wonders to change St. Louis’ narrative.

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve, see you on Thursday!

— Steve Patterson