If we can get it past the Flourescent Bulb Manufacturer's Association, the associated Washington lobby, and all the politicians and unions they have in their pocket. Not to mention the Mercury Miner's Guild and their tame legislators. Don't blame this one on the environmentalists TB, the business community will figure out how to make a a profit on any poison.

Of course, building them out of a more expensive glass less prone to breakage would also be resisted as "not cost effective", and trying to legislate that would be resisted as "government meddling in private enterprise" and "excessive regulation".

Anyway, flourescent lamps have been around a lot longer than the environmentalist movement, and they didn't stop manufacturing them when the poisonous effects of mercury and the difficulty of disposing it were first fully understood. The environmentalists have been really stupid about this, but the business community has know all about it right from the start.