Dumb lawmakers!  I agree they should focus their energy on renewable energy instead.  Good thing metal halide ballasts are electrically compatible with mercury lamps, only problem is now most new mercury lamps are made in China and nowhere near the quality of the real Westinghouse ones.

Perhaps the best thing we could do is write letters or start a petition to the lawmakers in question and if it could help, DSA even though they probably won't listen. But if that doesn't work, we can always stock up on MV lights before 2008.

As for the mercury lamps mostly being Chinese now, GE makes theirs in Hungary and they seem better than Chinese lamps.  Some Chinese mercury lamps aren't bad though, like the Fake W ones (they say Westinghouse but made by ABCO), and the Regent branded lamps that come supplied with those yard lights.  I was lucky enough to get a bunch of clear Philips Lifeguard 175w lamps from a building being torn down, I just unscrewed them from all the fixtures so now I think I am pretty well stocked up on mercury lamps of that size!

Unfortunately all I have at this time is the one clear 175 that came with the Regent yardblaster. It is a pretty decent lamp though its yet to reach the greened out stage. I might buy a white one to go along with it. Some low wattage 50 and 80 watt MV's might be cool to keep around. Prior to knowledge of the MV ban, I had the idea of making a mercury vapor table lamp, even though the bulb heat would probably burn the shade

Do mercs actually get hotter than the incandescent lamp of the same wattage? (I don't know yet cuz I dont have a merc ballast and can't afford one even on ebay on account that I am in college.)

Well I can't really say mercs get much hotter. However there's MORE UV coming out of them which would make the plastic of the lampshade that DaveMan planned to make yellow out and get brittle and maybe slightly burn.....

Another thing I know, is that clear mercs get hotter than a coated merc of same wattage because the outer glass converts the UV into heat while the phospour coating converts that UV into light instead of heat which means coated lamps run cooler!

i agree that mercs are cool...and personally despite them having lowest efficency of all HID lamps,i think they are the best lamps ever made!

but i dont see how the outer bulb converts the UV to heat...the bulb is hot because of the intense heat radiated from the Arctube which is at around 2000 Degrees Farenheit....the hot nature of an HID arc also has to do with the pressure in the arctube...the higher the pressure the hotter the arc...and that is why HID lamps need a warm up.

Devonte: The heat is in other words infrared light, which is just below the red part of the spectrum. The glass absorbs the UV and, like the ground lit by the sun, emit heat and direct IR radiations.

That's my theory