California has become the very first state in the USA to legally ban plastic bags.
California a short while ago made history by becoming the first state in the USA to officially ban plastic bags.
The California Plastic Bag Veto Referendum (Proposition 67) was accepted by voters by a slim margin of 51.97% in favour to 48.03% opposed. The tight success came in spite of a $6 million campaign fought by the out-of-state plastic bag industry.
“California voters have taken a stand against a deceptive, multi-million dollar campaign by out-of-state plastic bag makers,” said Californians Against Waste (CAW) campaign co-chair, Mark Murray. “This is a significant environmental victory that will mean an immediate elimination of the 25 million plastic bags that are polluted in California every day, threatening wildlife.”
Environment activists and grocers headed the successful ban plastic bags campaign with a fundraising pot of only $1.6 million, in contrast to the industry’s $6.1 million. The ban plastic bags campaign cast plastic bags as an environmental nuisance that eventually finish up in rivers, streams, oceans and other waterways.
The writing was already on the wall for plastic bags in California, as San Francisco elected to ban plastic bags in 2007 – with almost fifty percent the state following suit soon after. The California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 270 in 2014, which was brought in into legislation by Governor Jerry Brown. However, according to the Sacramento Bee, the American Progressive Bag Alliance headed a campaign to repeal the bill, proclaiming it would likely eliminate thousands of jobs in the state and cost citizens hundreds of dollars every year in bag fees.
Voters comfortably beat Proposition 65, a related measure that recommended an environmental monetary fund set up with the proceeds coming from a 10-cent charge on the sales made of cloth material as well as various other reusable bags.
SOURCE: Californians Against Waste and the Sacramento Bee
Californians Against Waste is one of the oldest and most accomplished environmental advocacy organizations in the USA and successfully introduces and passes important recycling and environmental legislation every year.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article113898813.html#storylink=cpy