Is there any better way of showing how out of touch you’ve become with your own country than turning the screw on average citizens who are already struggling to afford to feed their families by forcing them to buy … expensive lightbulbs?

This is the Biden administration’s latest act of environmentalist genius: ban incandescent lightbulbs and force people to use only LED bulbs.

The Department of Energy finalized these plans back in April 2022, and full enforcement will begin on Aug. 1, 2023. From that date onward, you’ll be using LED lightbulbs whether you want to or not and whether you can afford them or not; LED bulbs are up to three times more expensive than other soon-to-be-illegal options.

Last year, the Department of Energy, headed by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, celebrated this legislative agenda with every green buzzword imaginable.

“Once these light bulb rules are in place, DOE expects consumers to save nearly $3 billion per year on their utility bills,” the Department of Energy said . “In addition to delivering significant cost savings for households, schools, and businesses, these energy efficiency actions also advance President Biden’s climate goals. Over the next 30 years, the rules are projected to cut carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons — an amount equivalent to the emissions generated by 28 million homes in one year.”

But setting aside the obvious point that such a move is demonstrative of an arrogant political class that believes it has the right, let alone the ability, to decide what’s best for you and your family regarding even the smallest details of your lives, there’s a broader problem here: This is nothing but climate change propaganda used to distract from actual problems in our society.

First, let’s do the math.

With more than 140 million customers in the electric utility industry, the collective $3 billion of so-called savings amounts to … $21.43 per customer, per year.

The Department of Energy also said banning incandescent lightbulbs was just one “part of 100 energy efficiency actions the Biden Administration is completing this year, which together will save families $100 every year.”

Banning bulbs is just one part of 100 other acts of government overreach that will (supposedly) save families $100 every year. Excuse me if I don’t shriek with gratitude as President Joe Biden “saves” us a few dollars every year while he continues to fuel inflation, which has caused energy prices alone to skyrocket by almost 40% since his first day in office.

This talk of “savings” comes straight from the same deceitful logic used by Biden when he claimed to have lowered inflation. Instead, inflation was going up, but not as quickly. That’s like declaring yourself a firefighting hero after setting your neighbor’s house on fire because the flames aren’t spreading as fast as before.

But the cherry on this particular cake? Those who will suffer most are those who always suffer most: poorer people already brought to their knees by Biden’s economic agenda.

Again, given that LED bulbs are up to triple the price of regular bulbs, is it any surprise that 54% of households with an annual income of more than $100,000 use LED bulbs, while just 39% of households with an income of $20,000 or less used LEDs?

How can you reap the rewards of these imaginary savings when you can’t afford the bulbs to begin with?

Biden may not care about fighting crime or illegal immigration or the impending global economic rejection of the United States, but he will fight to his last breath to keep poor people from being able to keep the lights on.

Ian Haworth ( @ighaworth ) is the host of Off Limits with Ian Haworth .