Unlikely: UK Attempting to Ban Power-Hungry TVs

Americans aren't the only ones who love oversized gadgets: Plasma TVs are all the rage in Britain, but doting officials are deeply worried that the power-hungry TV sets will collapse the nation's electrical grid and ruin the environment to boot. The response: A proposal to ban them (and other electronics). Or more accurately: Products for sale in various categories (including DVD players and freezers) would be given a threshold of power consumption which they couldn't legally exceed if you want to sell them in the UK.

Other rules would outlaw "standby" lights and similar low-power modes on electronics, but it is specifically plasma TVs which are targeted in the proposal. The report was scheduled to be unveiled today to an official UK environmental protection department.

Ultimately, attempts to outright ban products like this tend to fail, for a wide variety of reasons. The big one is that technology moves at a much faster pace than government: Limits on one type of product that exists today are obsolete by the time they go into effect, which is typically not for three to five years after a bill is signed. The industry discontinues one technology in favor of a successor, or the technology evolves into something else. Loopholes invariably abound, taking the teeth out of the legislation.

A better response: Taxation. If you want to curb electrical use, why not tax the sale of electronics on a per-watt basis, and use the proceeds to fund research into alternative energy and lower-power alternatives? By making lower-cost products more financially attractive, you encourage overall better consumer behavior rather than simply slapping the consumer with a "you can't have this" stick. Plus, what government doesn't like free money?

LINK: Plans to ban plasma TVs