Swedish furniture giant IKEA will no longer be selling incandescent light bulbs in its American stores, and is now instead offering longer-lasting and energy-efficient bulbs. Ikea began phasing out the sale of the light bulbs in August. IKEA’s action comes ahead of federal legislation that would mandate more efficient light bulbs starting in 2012.

The plan also applies to IKEA stores in Canada, with stores in France and Australia started the phase-out the incandescent bulbs last year.

“Eliminating incandescents is just one simple way for IKEA customers to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases,” Mike Ward, U.S. IKEA president, said in a statement Tuesday.

As of August 1, 2010, IKEA will begin to phase out all incandescent light bulbs in their US stores. The recent IKEA environmental initiative has a target date of incandescent bulb elimination by January 1, 2011. IKEA will be the first US retailer to completely phase out incandescent light bulbs.

“IKEA is committed to integrating sustainability into all IKEA strategies and practices in the entire product life cycle. We also believe our customers are looking for every day environmentally responsible solutions for themselves. Eliminating incandescents is a simple way to lead the charge for IKEA customers to use energy saving light bulbs, thus reducing energy consumption and reducing the amount of greenhouses gases. It’s a little step with a big impact on our planet,” commented Mike Ward, US IKEA President.