The Madison Common Council voted Tuesday to refer a proposal to the City Attorney's Office that would force Madison landlords to use fluorescent light bulbs in all rental-property light fixtures instead of conventional bulbs.
The council referred the proposal, initially introduced in 2007 by former District 8 Ald. Austin King and the Wisconsin Sierra Club, due to questions about the current draft's legality.
Jennifer Feyerherm of the Wisconsin Sierra Club said the proposal would make Madison's energy consumption more efficient and help diminish the city's impact on global warming.
Madison is facing lots of issues these days,"" Feyerherm said. ""With the taste of floods that we saw earlier this year that they're saying will increase in frequency as global warming gets worse, the urgency [to address the issue] is only ever more present.""
Feyerherm said the current draft of the ordinance also addresses concerns from Madison landlords about the cost of bulb replacement. According to Feyerherm, the Sierra Club and Wisconsin's Focus on Energy have designed a program that will provide landlords with free bulb replacement and installation if they sign up before the ordinance would take effect.
Madison resident Rosemary Lee spoke in opposition to the proposal, saying that while she supports the mandate of energy-efficient bulbs in common areas of a rental property, forcing citizens to use them in their homes is unfair.
""[Using fluorescent bulbs] should be a decision made by the residents in the sanctity of their homes,"" Lee said. ""I personally have the coiled, energy-efficient lights - it was my decision, not yours.""
The proposal failed to pass in the Madison City Council in March 2007, acquiring the majority of votes but not the necessary 11 needed to approve the ordinance. The City Attorney's Office will now review the proposal in the coming months.
