It's Crunch Time for Plastic Bag Bill
Friends,
Thank you for your past support.
We really need your help right now if we’re going to pass a critically important bill. We’re just 14 days away from a ‘live or die’ vote in the State Senate on SB 405 (Padilla), which would ban single-use plastic bags in California and allow stores to sell reusable and paper bags.
It’s crunch time!
We all agree that the economic and environmental costs of single-use bags are simply too high. We’re spending tens of millions to clean up plastic bag pollution; paying higher grocery bills to cover the cost of bags; and risking the lives of thousands of marine animals who die when they ingest or become entangled in plastic bags.
It’s got to stop.
The Plastics Industry keeps trying new tactics—filing lawsuits, trying to skew education curriculum, lobbying and making campaign contributions— but they haven’t stopped the momentum that continues to build for a statewide bag ban. In fact, just this week the California Supreme Court refused to consider a petition to review their unsuccessful case against LA County. Now they’re trying something new.
Attack Ads:
I’m asking for your support today because Bag Manufacturers continue putting out radio and TV ads and falsely claiming that “junk science” is behind the efforts to keep plastic bags out of the waste stream, waterways and oceans.
They’re trying to “save” the plastic bag by attacking paper bags as Greenhouse Gas producers and bashing reusable bags as health hazards. They’ve even resorted to calling plastic “the real green bag.”
All the money they spend on flashy info graphics and slick advertising can’t change the facts:
• A comparison of paper and plastic bags shows that the industry’s claims against paper are knowingly false—paper bags produce 59% less GHG over their lifecycle, and use less fossil fuel.
• Various industry-funded studies claiming reusable bags cause illness are grossly misleading and contain numerous other flaws. Simply washing reusable bags when they get dirty virtually eliminates the risk of illness.
• They claim that phasing out plastic grocery bags will cost 2,000 California jobs, and that most reusable bags are made in China. But two California companies that still make plastic bags have already diversified to make other products including reusable bags. There are more California companies manufacturing reusable bags (7), than are still making single use plastic (2).
• They continue to claim that plastic bags are 100% recyclable. The truth is less than 5% of plastic bags are actually recycled each year. And the production rate is outstripping the recycling rate by double digits.
• We’re falling behind—Californians used 14 billion single-use plastic bags in 2010. And each year more plastic bags are distributed, disposed and littered than the year before.
Will you help by making a contribution right now?
The next few weeks are crucial. The plastics industry is pulling out all the stops and we have to be ready to respond.
Every contribution makes a difference.
These are corporate giants who continue to rake in profits, but time and time again they’ve refused to take responsibility for the long-term damage their products do to wildlife and the environment. We know they have million-dollar budgets for campaign donations, advertising and lobbying; we can’t match them dollar for dollar. But with our drive and passion, and support from people like you, who care about the impacts of plastic bag pollution, we can make a difference!
We’ve been working to ban single-use plastic bags for years. It’s time for the rest of the state to join the 75 California communities like LA County that are taking a leadership role by passing local ordinances and standing up to the plastics industry in the process.
Let’s do this!
Thanks so much for your support,
Mark Murray
Executive Director, CAW