When there are two ways to light a room, yielding the same amount of light, but one uses much less energy, it is the superior one. Not necessarily. What about

When there are two ways to light a room, yielding the same amount of light, but one uses much less energy, it is the superior one. Not necessarily. What about manufacturing costs? If manufacturing a CFL/LED is more labour or capital intensive then it's production uses resources that could have been used to produce other goods. If that's the case then a ban on incandescent light bulbs has a hidden cost. You shouldn't look only at the visible effects but also at those invisible. A great essay That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen [1] by Frederic Bastiat comes to my mind. It explores this kind of situations. [1] http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html