Power-Hungry

California appears poised to ban energy-sucking big-screen plasma TVs, despite vigorous lobbying by the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association. The ban will be imposed by executive fiat, courtesy of the state's energy commission.

The reason for banning the big boob tubes is the same as the one behind the push to switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs: It's good for the environment.

Why stop there? Perhaps California should send out swarms of regulators to turn down people's thermostats, too.

Oops. Turns out they already thought of that. According to a story last year in The New York Times, "California Seeks Thermostat Control."

California says large TVs consume too much juice. But their appetite for electricity apparently is nothing compared to the hunger for power among state regulators.