Commenting on the news that the European Lamp Companies Federation are planning a major push to eliminate old style incandescent lightbulbs and replace them with more efficient "CFL" bulbs, Greenpeace energy campaigner Charlie Kronick said:

"It's a big step forward that a major manufacturing body is working to eliminate these energy hungry dinosaurs from our shops.However, it's time that government got ahead of business and imposed standards that would remove them from our shelves."

Greenpeace recently wrote to UK environment secretary David Miliband asking why we are lagging behind the Californians, who are debating a bill to outlaw these bulbs and even the Australian government, who plan to ban the incandescent bulb within three years.

Using Government figures, Greenpeace has calculated that the UK could save 5.1 million tones of CO2 per year by copying the move - the equivalent output of the 26 lowest emitting countries combined. This equals the emissions of an entire medium sized coal fired power station.

Charlie Kronick continued "While the Europeans, Californians and even the Australians are taking a lead, we're still living in the dark ages. If David Miliband is serious about reducing wasteful energy usage he should start legislating to ban these dangerous relics."

How many British politicians does it take to change a lightbulb? That was the question on many people's lips after Australia today announced plans to ban the sale of inefficient incandescent lightbulbs within three years.

Reacting to the news, Greenpeace climate campaigner Laura Yates said: "The UK government says it is leading the world in the fight against catastrophic climate change, but hasn't yet seen the light and continues to allow the sale of these energy hungry dinosaurs in our shops."

Greenpeace is today kicking off a campaign to persuade the government and retailers to eliminate the most wasteful lightbulbs from our shops.

The Australians, having refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol, are not usually seen as trendsetters in the field of CO₂ reduction. But as Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull points out, the banning of incandescent bulbs will help them trim Australia's current emissions and lower household lighting costs by around 66 per cent.

The Californian legislature is also about to vote on similar proposals - the "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act" would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favour of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). A 20-watt CFL gives as much light as a 100-watt conventional bulb, lasts up to 12 times longer, and can save consumers around