Big Gov't the Antidote to 'Power Addiction'?

Expect to see more of these B&M ("Bitching & Moaning") stories from the press as the Green War against Sane People escalates.

In Britain, the extremely green-sensitive Guardian reports:

Britain's addiction to power-hungry gadgets could raise electricity bills by £100 per year for every household and hamper progress in meeting the country's greenhouse gas emissions targets, according to experts.

The proliferation of plasma televisions, high-end PCs and mobile phones is causing energy consumption to soar. These devices currently account for 25% of the electricity used by UK households and projections by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) show this will rise to around 45% by 2020.

So what are we supposed to do about it? Well obviously we can't do wind power or we'll kill all the goats, so the obvious answer is: Let Big Brother regulate it, of course.

Nobuo Tanaka, IEA director, said governments must regulate electronic devices to make them more energy-efficient. "Despite anticipated improvements in the efficiency of electronic devices, these savings are likely to be overshadowed by the rising demand for technology."

Forget about the marketplace doing its own self-regulation. Forget about people making informed choices and paying the consequences of those choices.

This ever-increasing demand for a government solution for every perceived problem (and in this case I don't even see a problem) would be comical if it weren't so dangerous to human freedom.