Local electeds line up to support plastic bag ban

Officials from every corner of California are lining up behind our new statewide plastic bag ban. Elected leaders from 115 California cities and counties have joined California vs. Big Plastic, the battle against out-of-state plastic companies who are spending millions to try to undo the newly signed law.
These community leaders – including from six of the state’s largest cities – formally have signed on to endorse efforts to protect SB 270, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September. The list comprises mayors, council members, and county supervisors from a wide range of geographic regions and party affiliations.

At least 10 are from cities that have not yet adopted local bag bans and support is growing each day for the coalition.

These endorsements are more evidence of Californians’ rock-solid support for the plastic bag ban. Since 2007, 129 municipal and county governments have adopted some form of a ban on single-use plastic bags, and recent polling from the Los Angeles Times estimates 60% of Californians would vote to affirm the ban.

The coalition is building to combat multimillion-dollar efforts to place a referendum of the ban on a 2016 ballot. Signature gatherers camped outside stores, bus stations and other California locations are being paid $2.50 for each signature by plastic bag makers including ringleader Novolex, the South Carolina-based plastic bag corporation formerly called Hilex Poly that is owned by a Chicago equity fund.
 
They already have poured more than $2.7 million into the effort, raised from plastic bag manufacturers from South Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, and China.

If there are enough signatures on the referendum petitions, the statewide ban will be frozen until 2016. But if they succeed and freeze the law until that time, dozens of California jurisdictions will move ahead with their own bans. And as polling shows, residents of communities with bans overwhelmingly support them, and realize the initial minor inconvenience is well worth the benefits to wildlife and our environment of eliminating plastic bags.

A referendum also would mean a $30 million political campaign by out-of-state interests seeking to fool voters into thinking the company's profits are more important than reducing the threat their product causes to wildlife, our rivers and oceans, and our environment.

But these companies should read the writing on the wall, with polls showing widespread support and this growing coalition of elected officials, consumers, environmental groups, elected leaders, grocers, retailers, business groups and labor.

A complete list of local elected officials who support California vs. Big Plastic can be found at http://cavsbigplastic.com/about/.