News Updates for the Week of November 7

1.      Unemployment Rate Falls to 9 Percent - The Labor Department says the economy added 80,000 jobs last month, the fewest in four months and below September’s revised total of 158,000. Hiring slowed in October as employers faced more uncertainty over future economic growth. The United States has experienced 11 recessions since the end of the postwar period in 1948. The federal government has tried various methods over the years to turn around recessions and push back unemployment, including stimulus spending and tax cuts. Here is the unemployment rate since the federal government began tracking unemployment more than 60 years ago and what the government did, to ease it.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/us-unemployment-rate-history/

                                        

2.      U.S. 'Green' Standards Change, New Energy-Efficient Lighting - With the movement towards a greener world, the U.S. is developing stricter requirements focusing on energy-efficient lighting. Over the next five years, several changes will occur in the lighting industry, the most prominent of which will be the phasing out and replacing of standard light bulbs by more energy-efficient alternatives. For more information visit http://www.goldenlighting.com/ 11/01 PRNewswire

3.      Ameren Missouri to Slash Efficiency Programs - Ameren Missouri is making more deep cuts to energy efficiency programs, arguing that they hurt electricity sales and cost shareholders millions of dollars. Ameren, based in St. Louis, indicated earlier this year that it planned to cut the programs to $20 million in 2012 from $33 million this year. On Wednesday, the utility said it would reduce spending by another 50 percent next year, to $10 million. Energy efficiency program for residential customers-which ended Sept. 30-included discounts on compact fluorescent light bulbs and rebates for Energy Star-qualified appliances. 10/28 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

4.      Transformations in Lighting - 2012 DOE Solid-State Lighting R&D Workshop - Atlanta, GA
January 31–February 2, 2012 - This gathering of solid-state lighting R&D professionals is where the nation's top researchers and industry, government, and academic leaders meet to address the science challenges and explore the full promise of this fast-moving technology. The workshop offers a unique forum to learn, share, interact, and build partnerships. And with its focus on the cutting edge, it's a way to stay current with an industry moving at warp speed.

5.      Title 24 Guide Included in the 2011 IES Progress Report - CLTC's Title 24 Residential Lighting Design Guide has been selected for inclusion in the Illuminating Engineering Society's 2011 IES Progress Report. Each year the report presents significant developments and improvements in the lighting industry. This year’s Progress Report is available on the IES website www.ies.org and will appear in the January 2012 issue of LD+A.

6.      Home Depot Offers Coupons for Eco-Friendly Lights When Customers Trade in Old Light Strings - Customers can bring in their old, incandescent Christmas light strings-working or not-to their local Home Depot store and receive coupons for money off the purchase of new, energy-efficient LED strings of Christmas lights. Customers can trade in up to five strings of the traditional incandescent lights for coupons ranging in value from $3 to $5. Customers must purchase their new LED lights between Nov. 3 and Nov. 13. 11/1 The News & Observer

7.      New “LED Lamp Locator” Industry Portal Is Expanded to Include Addition of Linear Product -Lighting Internet Technology Enterprises, LLC (LITE) announced that the company's new web-based tool, the "LED Lamp Locator," has just been enhanced to include the identification of LED replacement lamps for linear fluorescent technology. The newly-added “Linear” category now joins the tool’s three other main categories–Decorative, Directional, and Omnidirectional–in comprehending the broad array of LED lamps offered by the market’s range of global manufacturers and in helping to simplify the identification and selection of LED lamps in today’s fast-paced and rapidly-expanding marketplace. www.LEDLampLocator.com

8.      Promote Your Manufacturing Company to Lighting Practitioners at No Cost - You can list your company for free in the LD+A 2012 Lighting Equipment & Accessories Directory in print (March issue) and online, but you must enter your company's profile or reactivate an existing profile no later than January 6, 2012. To update or activate an existing listing, access the "manufacturer's login" area of the IES website at www.ies.org/manufacturers/login.cfm. To enter your company for the first time, simply go to www.ies.org/manufacturers/manuf_add_form.cfm

9.      Super Committee Nears Deadline, Considers Recommendations on Energy - The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, commonly known as the Super Committee, is approaching its Nov. 23 deadline to issue a recommendation for at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.

10.  China Will Phase Out Energy-Draining Light Bulbs - China will phase out power-draining light bulbs within five years in a move to make the world's biggest polluting nation more efficient but also certain to impact the global market. China will ban imports and sales of 100-watt-and-higher incandescent bulbs from Oct. 1, 2012. Bans will also be imposed on 60-watt-and-higher bulbs from Oct. 1, 2014 and 15-watt-and-higher old-style bulbs from Oct. 1, 2016. Last year, 3.85 billion incandescent light bulbs were produced in China and 1.07 billion of them were sold domestically. Power consumption for lighting is estimated to be about 12 percent of China's total electricity use. 11/4 AP

11.  LG And Other Korean Giants Face Ban on LED Luminaire Sales - Korean chaebols–giant industrial conglomerates–such as LG and Samsung, have been told that they cannot sell LED luminaires in Korea, in order to protect the interests of smaller manufacturers. LED luminaires were included in a list of 25 business items that are now restricted to production by small companies only. The list was announced by Korea’s Commission for Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/8/11/5