The last General Electric factory in the U.S. to manufacture incandescent light bulbs is set to close its doors next month, as a federal move toward green technology has made the product obsolete, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The Winchester, Va., plant partly fell victim to energy conservation legislation passed by Congress that will require Americans to start using more efficient bulbs by 2014, the report said.
The 200 workers at the plant will lose their jobs when the doors shut for the final time, as the replacement bulbs, known as compact fluorescents (CL), are manufactured mainly overseas.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CL’s last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, while using about one-fourth the amount of energy.
"Everybody's jumping on the green bandwagon," The Post quoted Pat Doyle, who has worked at the plant for 26 years, as saying.
“We've been sold out,” Doyle added. “First sold out by the government. Then sold out by GE."
President Barack Obama has put an emphasis on creating green jobs, saying he wants the U.S. to create five million over the next ten years, The Wall Street Journal added.
