California legislators missed a golden opportunity to slash plastic waste
California missed a chance to pass the nation's most comprehensive plan to reduce plastic pollution.
California missed a chance to pass the nation’s most comprehensive plan to reduce plastic pollution.
On Sept. 13, lawmakers allowed an act requiring businesses to phase out the most harmful single-use plastics by 2030—cutting plastic pollution by 75 percent—to stall as the legislative session ended.
Despite this setback, Californians are ready to tackle plastic pollution. In July, the Public Policy Institute of California released a report finding that 90 percent of Californians agree that plastic debris is a problem for the future of the state.
“We’re only going to see more and more reports of plastic and microplastics invading the environment,” CALPIRG Executive Director Emily Rusch told the Los Angeles Times. “We want to make sure that California is a leader and creating a path the rest of the country can follow.”
CALPIRG will call on our state Legislature to pass this act as soon as the 2020 Legislative session begins in January.
Photo: Sen. Nancy Skinner, flanked by volunteers from CALPIRG Students, speaks on behalf of the act to reduce plastic waste at a rally in support of the legislation. Credit: Ricky Mackie Photography
