Sunday, September 5, 2010

California lobbyists for the plastic industry beat plastic bar

A plastic ban is certainly not something the California State senate wants thinking about the ruling on Wednesday. The ban, in a state that is known for setting nationwide trends, was backed up by grocers, retailers and Republican governor Arnold Schwartzenegger. Lobbyists for the plastic industry were hoping the ban would go through. Use of plastic grocery bags has rapidly increased worldwide. Human health has changed into a concern since an incredible number of birds and marine animals are now being killed by plastic bags. Numerous think the ban in California on plastic bags shouldn’t go via. This is because consumers shouldn’t have to deal with that burden. Resource for this article – California plastic bag ban defeated by plastic industry lobbyists by Personal Money Store.

Plastic bags in The Golden State a problem

The bill would have made California the first state in the U.S. to bar plastic bags at grocery, drug and some convenience stores. The Silicon Valley Mercury News made a report on the bill. It said the bill came along since the public started to be concerned about plastic garbage hazards. According to the environmental group Conserve the Bay, 1 million plastic bags pollute San Francisco Bay each year. Each year, Californians use 19 billion plastic bags. This was shown by state officials. Collecting plastic bags for landfills costs the state a lot. In fact, it costs about $25 million a year. Since The Golden State has an $18 billion deficit, it doesn’t make sense to pay $1.7 million on the issue, as outlined by American Chemistry Council which involves Chevron, Dow and ExxonMobil.

Purchasing state politician votes from plastic industry

In California, the plastic bag ban has opposition. This originated from the American Chemistry Council mostly. Any environmental bills and anti-plastic city ordinances that have opposition are funded by the group. The Miami Herald explains the business is actually in Virginia, although it funds to California. The council produced a costly TV and radio ad campaign against the plastic bag bill and wrote a bundle of checks to politicians. In August at least seven state senators collected campaign donations directly from the council or its affiliates Exxon and Hilex Poly Co., a South Carolina plastic bag manufacturer.

Yes or no to the plastic bag ban

The plastic bag ban in California is there specifically to get shoppers to bring reusable totes. San Francisco is just one of many cities in California that already have bans on plastic bags. The bill was authored by assemblywoman Julia Brownley who told ABC News that changing habits of shoppers is a better approach than cleaning up the mess. It was told ABC News. This originated from Republican Senator Mimi Walters who said that “If we pass this piece of legislation, we will be sending a message to the people of California that we care more about banning plastic bags than helping them put food on their table.”

The Great Pacific garbage Patch

In 2008, it was estimated by the EPA that 3.96 million tons of plastic bags were made. 90 percent of those were thrown away. The Wall Street Journal reports that 100 billion plastic bags are used within the U.S. each year. Retailers have to spend about $4 billion to buy these. 10 percent of plastic accumulates within the ocean, says a U.N. study from 2006. There is one place where the concentration is really high. It is called the Good Pacific Garbage Patch. The size of the place is about the size of Texas. It also has about 3.5 million tons of trash in it.

More on this topic

Silicon Valley Mercury News

mercurynews.com/ci_15927563?source=most_emailed and nclick_check=1

Miami Herald

miamiherald.com/2010/08/26/1792991/californias-plastic-bag-ban-opponents.html

ABC News

abcnews.go.com/US/california-votes-plastic-bag-ban/story?id=11526792 and page=1



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