In this Communication, we seek to clarify confusion regarding our 2010 Journal of Physics article on historical rebound effects for lighting, which showed that global energy use for lighting has experienced 100% rebound over 300 years, six continents, and five technologies. We argue that our results have been misunderstood by some to mean lighting efficiency gains are counterproductive, and we instead argue for vigorously promoting improved lighting technologies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.