Well, what can ya say. California’s bag ban effort fell short. Looking at it another way, after a week of perspective, I have concluded that some politicians are just stupid. [REVELATION!] “Stupid” is a harsh word, yes, but Forest Gump reminded us that “Stupid is that stupid does.” Which, defined, means “a person is judged ‘stupid’ by the stupid acts (s)he commits”. And well, just follow the logic…and the actions.
…or maybe it could be just plain old selfish ignorance – for instance, my local senator kept asking us, “what will I use to pick up my dog droppings with if single-use plastic shopping bags are banned?”. So, to her, her dog’s feces were more important than unsightly, and at times, deadly plastic pollution strewn across her district and beyond. Go figure…or go fetch?
Here are the elected California senator yayhoos who lack both thinking caps & vision for the future, and/or are on the lobbyist gravy-train (these senators voted against the bag ban):
Aanestad, Ashburn, Calderon, Cogdill,
Correa, Denham, Ducheny, Dutton,
Emmerson, Florez, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Huff, Negrete, McLeod, Price,
Runner, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Romero, & Wyland
Some Senators are greedy and vote with an eye to fattening their wallets. Note that self-bepuffed Senator Lois Wolk (D-Sacramento) spoke out against the bill on the floor AND was one of the Senators that the Sacramento Bee exposed as taking money from the ACC. Read the Sac Bee article that fingers the other California State Senators caught feeding their portly jowls and wallets at the plastics industry’s lobbyist money-tree. BUSTED!
…and then there are the SMART SENATORS, with VISION and CONCERN. These are the ones that could see the value in preserving our environment for future generations, who are not swayed by money-grubbin’ lobbyists, and who should be praised for their thoughtful “YES!” votes on AB1998 (note that the State Assembly is jammed with smarties too, as they passed the bill before it ever went to the Senate):
Alquist, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,
Lowenthal, Padilla, Pavley, Simitian,
Steinberg, Yee, AND Schwartzenegger (said he’d pass it!)
Please contact these senators and thank them for voting YES ON AB 1998!
So it’s back to the courts – a much simpler prospect, now that Santa Monica has published their EIR required by CEQA, to show that banning bags won’t hurt the environment more than keeping them around to litter our landscapes & oceans, and kill our wildlife. Back to the plan of each municipality forging their own bag bans. Like I said, SEE YA IN COURT!
More good news in the wake of AB 1998 – 1) the greater awareness about the plastic plague problem has motivated many California cities to go forward with local bans, 2) that raised awareness has blanketed the world, and other countries continue to BAN THE BAG, 3) our Clean Seas Coalition has grown stronger and more organized and are ready for the next fight!
Also, it’s now time to schedule your showing of BagIt, a new indy film all about single-use plastics and in particular, the devil incarnate: single-use plastic shopping bags. Surfrider has been granted rights to show this award-winning film, so contact your local Surfrider chapter and see about show times!
This last item is for my local California State Senator – maybe I was too harsh, perhaps it is actually her dog that is the dumb one. I mean really, smart dogs clean up after themselves…Ms. Senator, please show this image to your dog and tell him to get with the program!
Have a single-use bag-less week!!