A light bulb turned on in Sen. Mae Beavers' head this afternoon as the Commerce Committee passed a bill to require vending machines on state property to use energy efficient lights. Why doesn't the legislature find a way to turn off its own office lights at night? Apparently, they burn 24/7. Beavers says she checked with state engineers, "and they told us we could save $300,000 a year if we could just turn our lights off." "We don't even have a light switch in our office," Beavers complained. According to committee members, Sen. Rusty Crowe has become so frustrated he's unscrewed the light bulbs in his office.
