Quantcast
Powered by RebelMouse

Los Angeles Enacts Plastic Bag Ban, Strengthens Statewide Movement

Laura Beans
Jun. 19, 2013 08:33AM EST

Environment California

[Editor's note: UPDATE—On June 26, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed LA's historic ban on single-use plastic bags into law.]

The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-1 yesterday to finalize a citywide ban on single-use plastic bags. L.A. had begun drafting an ordinance last year, and has since completed an exhaustive study demonstrating the benefits of a citywide ban. Once the L.A. ordinance is signed into law by Mayor Villaraigosa, nearly one in three Californians will live somewhere with a plastic bag ban. Sen. Padilla (D-CA) championed a similar measure in the California Senate.

Although used for only a short while, a single-use plastic bag can last for hundreds of years in the environment.

“This important step forward for Los Angeles shows once again that we can achieve lasting victories for ocean and environmental health," said Nathan Weaver with Environment California.

“Banning plastic bags is the right choice to protect our rivers, beaches and the Pacific Ocean. With one in three Californians living somewhere with a plastic bag ban, it's only a matter of time until California bans plastic bags statewide. I applaud the Los Angeles City Council and Sen. Padilla for their leadership on this issue."

Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common garbage items on California's beaches according to the Los Angeles Times. They are a direct threat to ocean wildlife, like the sea turtles that mistake them for edible jellyfish. One in three leatherback sea turtles have plastic in their stomach, most often a plastic bag, based on a study of over 370 autopsies. Plastic bags make up as much as 25 percent, by weight, of all garbage flowing out to sea on the Los Angeles River according to a 2008 L.A. County report.

Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them, suffering harm.

“Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the ocean for hundreds of years," commented Weaver.

Plastic bag bans have enjoyed tremendous success across California. More than 75 California local governments have already banned single-use plastic bags, including Pasadena, Glendale, Culver City, Long Beach, Calabasas and unincorporated Los Angeles County. Seven million Californians, joined by 3.8 million people in L.A., now live in a community that has approved a plastic bag ban.

Councilmembers Reyes, Krekorian, Zine, LaBonge, Koretz, Alarcón, Wesson, Rosendahl, Englander Huizar and Buscaino voted for the ban.

Visit EcoWatch's WATER and BIODIVERSITY pages for more related news on this topic.

——–

SIGN THIS PETITION TODAY:

Show Comments ()

EcoWatch Daily Newsletter

climate change

‘It’s Getting Worse’: Melting Ice Is Exposing More and More Bodies as Mount Everest Warms

Popular
Two Sherpa descending from Everest Base Camp, Himalayas, Khumbu, Nepal. Joel Addams / Aurora Photos / Getty Images

Climate change is having a grizzly effect on Mount Everest as melting snow and glaciers reveal some of the bodies of climbers who died trying to scale the world's highest peak.

Read More Show Less
climate change
coal

Navajo Nation Won't Buy Coal-Fired Plant

Energy
Navajo Generating Station, Arizona. Wolfgang Moroder / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Navajo Nation have decided to stop pursuing the acquisition of a beleaguered coal-fired power plant in Arizona, locking in the plant to be taken offline and its associated coal mine to close later this year.

A Navajo Nation Council committee voted 11-9 last week to stop pursuing the purchase of the 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station, which with the Kayenta coal mine provides more than 800 jobs to primarily Navajo and Hopi workers as well as tribal royalties.

A coalition of utilities that own the plant said in 2017 it would cease operations due to increased economic pressure, and the plant's future has proved a flash point for national and regional energy policy and raised larger questions on how Native communities will handle ties to fossil fuel industries as the economy changes.

For a deeper dive:

Arizona Republic, Indian Country Today, AP, WOKV, Farmington Daily Times

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.

Related Articles Around the Web
coal energy arizona
Sponsored
climate change

Sir David Attenborough Set to Present BBC Documentary on Climate Change

Popular
Sir David Attenborough opens Woodberry Wetlands on April 30, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. Danny Martindale / WireImage

Beloved nature broadcaster Sir David Attenborough will produce a new documentary for BBC One focused entirely on climate change, the network announced Friday.

Read More Show Less
wildlife conservation extreme weather wildfires climate change documentaries sir david attenborough
gardening

10 New Vegetables and Herbs for Your Garden This Spring

Food
Pexels

By Brian Barth

Looking to spice it up this year in the old vegetable patch?

Read More Show Less
food gardening diy
transportation

Will High-Speed Rail Ever Get on Track in the U.S.?

Insights + Opinion
An extended version of the Fuxing bullet train at the China National Railway Test Center on Oct. 15, 2018 in Beijing, China. VCG / VCG via Getty Images

By Jeff Turrentine

Is it just us?

Other countries don't seem to have a problem getting their high-speed rail systems on track. This superfast, fuel-efficient form of mass transit is wildly popular throughout Asia and the European Union. Japan's sleek Shinkansen line, the busiest high-speed rail system in the world, carries an estimated 420,000 riders every weekday. In China, the new Fuxing Hao bullet train now hurries more than 100 million passengers a year between Beijing and Shanghai at a top speed of 218 miles an hour, allowing its riders to make the trip of 775 miles — roughly the distance from New York City to Chicago — in about four and a half hours. Spain, Germany and France together have more than 4,500 miles of track dedicated to high-speed rail, over which more than 150 million passengers travel annually.

Read More Show Less
transportation climate change china air pollution california texas japan europe
Sponsored
plastic pollution

How We’re Fighting to Eliminate Plastic in California

Insights + Opinion
Ocean Heroes Bootcamp

By Coda Christopherson (11) and Lea Eiders (15)

Growing up in a plastic-free home, I was sheltered from the plastic waste crisis. I (Coda) went to a very progressive school that had vegan lunch items, farm animals and ran on solar power. My mom produces zero-waste events and my dad is a sailor, so we're very passionate about the ocean. When I was nine years old, we moved back to Manhattan Beach, California and I started 3rd grade in a public school. This was the first time I really understood that plastic-free living is not the norm; single-use plastics were everywhere, especially in the cafeteria. Once I recognized this problem, I knew I had to make a difference.

Read More Show Less
oceans plastics plastic pollution california activism zero waste
food

Avocados Shipped to Six States Recalled Over Listeria Fears

Food
Frank Grießhammer / Flickr

A major California avocado producer issued a voluntary recall of the popular fruit over concerns they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, USA Today reported.

Henry Avocado issued the recall Saturday after a routine government inspection at its California packing facility turned up positive test results for the bacteria on "environmental samples," the company said in a statement. No illnesses have been reported.

Read More Show Less
public health california food
oil

Oil Execs Brag About Having ‘Direct Access’ to Trump’s Pick for Interior Secretary

Politics
Acting Secretary David Bernhardt visited Watson Hopper Inc., a manufacturer of rigs and oil drilling equipment in Hobbs, New Mexico on Feb. 6, 2019. Tami A. Heilemann / DOI

Oil executives gathered for a conference laughed about their "unprecedented" access to Trump administration officials, according to a recording obtained by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting.

In the recording, taken at a June 2017 meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) at a Ritz-Carlton in Southern California, members expressed excitement about one official in particular: David Bernhardt, who had been nominated that April to be deputy secretary at the Department of Interior (DOI). Bernhardt would be confirmed the following month.

"We know him very well, and we have direct access to him, have conversations with him about issues ranging from federal land access to endangered species, to a lot of issues," IPAA political director Dan Naatz said in the recording.

Read More Show Less
fossil fuels trump administration scott pruitt epa endangered species fracking energy oil