There is one inimitable feature of incandescent bulbs that makes banning them a bad idea... they are infinitely dimmable. CFL bulbs can only be dimmed within a certain range, and cost more. Incandescent bulbs can be dimmed all the way to one candle's brightness, or lower... and indeed the orange glow of dimmed bulbs triggers a response, it is considered "romantic" lighting.

On the flip-side, CFL bulbs are available at different color temperatures. True daylight (5000K) balanced CFLs with a high CRI (color rendring index) are used to combat SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)... so a quality CFL can actually make you happier than an incandescent bulb; they just aren't as romantic.

To be frank, I think the CFL will have a short life because the future of lighting is LED bulbs. No buzz, no flicker, pure light in a wide variety of color temperatures. LEDs are even more energy-efficient than CFL, last even longer, and are dimmable by turning off some of the individual LEDs that make up a "bulb"... or even bulbs that can switch from warm to cool light, and dim at the same time. Current LED lightbulbs are much too expensive to appeal to consumers, but that will change. This was the first year that LED christmas lights caught on, and many buildings are switching to LED for their exterior lighting.

This article reads like a wistful obituary. Quality, modern CFL lights cannot be distinguished from incandescent bulbs, except on the dimming issue. I am a photographer, and I shoot hotels for a living so I have seen both kinds of bulbs in many rooms. On the flip-side old CLFs can be spotted in a microsecond, spewing their weak, greenish light... but seriously, modern CFLs are great.