Battle of the light bulbs (Marc Lifsher and Adrian G. Uribarri)

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LIGHTING THE WAY FORWARD: Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) poses in his Sacramento office with some of the compact flourescent bulbs available on the market today. He has introduced legislation to outlaw standard incandescent bulbs in California in a few years. (Robert Durell / LAT)

By Marc Lifsher and Adrian G. Uribarri -- Times Staff Writers

Feb. 24, 2007, A new light is about to burn more brightly: the stubby, squiggly fluorescent bulb. Environmentalists love it, Wal-Mart is promoting it and Australia is eyeing it as an easy way to save energy and curb global warming.

Now, California lawmakers are giving it some wattage by considering a ban on the sale of old-fashioned incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012.

The proposed switch represents a revolution in a lampshade, because incandescents account for 95% of light bulb sales. Replacing each descendant of Thomas A. Edison's invention with a low-energy, long-lasting, compact fluorescent bulb would slash electricity consumption by 75%, proponents say.

Retired aerospace engineer Frank Vincent is sold. "I use them. It saves me energy and it saves me money on that energy," said Vincent, 63, who was shopping Friday at a Wal-Mart store on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has thrown considerable marketing might behind the newfangled bulbs, urging its 100 million customers to buy at least one. The world's largest retailer says that would collectively save them $3 billion over the bulbs' life.

The companies that make traditional incandescent bulbs aren't ready to accept the idea that their wares might go the way of the whale-oil lamp, despite talk of bans in California and Britain and Australia's announcement this week that it would phase out the sale of the older-style bulbs over the next two years.