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Loading...Plastic Bag Ban Fails in California Legislature.
A bill to ban plastic bags in California failed in the state assembly yesterday after lobbyists funded by the American Chemistry Council campaigned furiously for its defeat. This is the third year in a row that the plastic bag ban bill has failed to become law.
An ABC news report documents the efforts of the lobbyists to kill the bill, AB 1998. The sponsor of the bill says she’s never seen anything like this lobbying effort. The American Chemistry Council industry group ran ads calling the attempt to prevent landfill and pollution a “hidden tax” that would supposedly cost the economy (or at least it would cost the American Chemistry Council):
Californians alone throw away 19 billion plastic bags a year, of which only a tiny fraction get recycled. The rest go to landfill, where they take 1,000 years to break down. The American Chemistry Council lost no time in spinning the bill’s failure, claiming that 1,000 California jobs were saved by the bill’s failure to pass.
AB 1998 would have created a standard on plastic bag bans and fees across the state, replacing the patchwork of regulations currently in place. The head of the California Grocers Association supported the bill, saying “AB 1998 would have established a statewide standard designed to bring predictability to consumers and operational and competitive fairness to retailers. This bill would’ve been good for consumers, good for business and good for the environment and its defeat is a failure for Californians.”
The U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP) has called for a global ban on plastic bags; Mexico City and other countries and municipalities around the world have nixed them, and China banned free plastic shopping bags in 2008.
With the bill’s failure, it is expected that several California communities will institute local plastic bag bans. A Care2 petition in favor of the plastic bag ban has garnered over 26,000 signatures.
Read more at an earlier Care2 Cause blog.
http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/monstrous-waste-citizens-unite-to-ban-plastic-bags-in-california/
Read more: ab1998, activism, california, environment & wildlife, legislation, ocean, plastic, plastic bag ban, pollution, recycling, sustainability, sustaintmc, waste
Pictured: Still legal in California!
Photo: © Ermin Gutenberger via iStockphoto
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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+ add your ownThe greatest danger of plastic bags come from people throwing them into the storm sewers where they end up in the Pacific Ocean. There is a huge pile of plastic trash the size of Rhode Island in the ocean--sea birds mistakenly feed some of this trash to their chicks and they die. Sea turtles commonly ingest plastic bags, because floating in the water they look like jellyfish, one of the turtles main foods. The turtles, many are endangered, shoke on them and die. In California, shoppers are bringing their own bags to the market and reusing them--but there are still too many around, we need a total ban. Get the lobbyists to clean up the trash they lobby for!
noted
BAN PLASTIC BAGS. Learn to live with out them.
thanks.
I live in California and try to reuse plastic bags and cloth bags. California has a long beautiful coast with many water ways. Plastic bags never decomposs and need to be banned. If they were I would see more than just a few people recycling or using cloth bags.
I am beginning to believe the only way to get some humans to change is by hitting them in the wallet. Why don't the stores charge a $1.00 for the bag. I have been using my own bags for yrs now. I don't drive either so get it together people and get working in your own communities and do something. Don't let the corp greeders win!!!!!
Of course plastic bags appeal ... to the lazy, unconcerned and uninformed who like FREE. Given all the facts and consequences perhaps some will change their minds and get on board ... the others should be charged up the wahzoo until it becomes a reality and the good of it is seen. Help save the planet ... if you're not part of the solution you're definitely part of the problem. It's everyone's problem and duty to become involved.
Get rid of the plastic bags please!
yes its true. find a solution.
Don't cry about the situation --- find a solution
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