Legislation

In an unprecedented move for a large city, Los Angeles became the largest city in America to ban plastic bags at the checkout. The ban passed city council's vote 13-1, and was supported by a number of environmental groups, as well as the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Council members have expressed a desire that the ban should promote a cleaner Los Angeles river, and David Zhaniser reports that Councilman Ed Reyes is keen to push the message further, saying "Let’s get the message to Sacramento that it’s time to go statewide".

India's most recent effort to enforce a plastic bag ban has begun to come into effect according to writer Shainu Mohan of the Deccan Chronicle. According to the article, a new hologram is being put on plastic bags to enable law enforcers to ensure bags are not being distributed for free. The hologram will denote bags that have been approved for use, and offenders will be fined for distributing bags free of charge.

In an article published on Quad Cities Online yesterday, it was announced that the US state of Illinois' retailers are currently supporting legislation that would make plastic bag and packaging manufacturers responsible for the products they produce. Contributor Eric Timmons writes about a new bill which has passed in the Illinois Senate this week would require bag and wrapper manufacturers to pay a fee of $500 annually to the Illinois Environmental Protection agency to support a collection and recycling scheme for plastic carrier bags.

In an article published on MSNBC today, contributor Miguel Llanos reports that [USA's] Hawaii has become the first state to completely ban plastic bags at store checkouts with legislation passed on Thursday. Llanos writes that this legislation makes Hawaii the only state in America in which every county within the state has instituted a ban. According to the article:

In an article on the Toronto Sun today, it was announced that the mayor of Toronto [Canada], Rob Ford, has brought his desire to eliminate the fee on plastic bags before the council, which is expected to be voting today. Mayor Ford has declared that he believes the 5 cent fee on plastic bags to be an unnessecary tax on consumers. If the motion is successful, writer Don Peat confirms that the fee will be removed in as little as one month, almost exactly three years since the fee was introduced.

In a story on the Huffington Post today, Matthew Spiegl reports on a ban that was set to be enacted by the city of San Jose, California which would have eliminated polystyrene to-go containers.

Despite the United States Food and Drug Administration's refusal to consider banning bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging, a study published on Monday by the National Academy of Sciences reveals that fetal exposure to BPA could lead to breast cancer.

In an article published today in the Globe and Mail, contributor Elizabeth Church reports that a councillor from Toronto, Canada has proposed an effort to redirect a five cent plastic bag tax to the preservation of local trees. The effort, Church writes, is an attempt to keep the tax from being discarded, and to put the money made from the tax towards an effort that will benefit the whole city. According to the article:

In an article published by Sea Coast Online this weekend, contributor Michael Mccord announces that the American state of New Hampshire has decided to vote on the possibility of banning bisphenol-A in baby products. According to the article, the bill and its supporters have experienced considerable friction from out of state lobbyists, who have opposed the bill every step of the way. Mccord writes:

Recently, Sandy Bauers from Philly.com Green shared her views on the bisphenol-A issue through her blog, "Green Space." She discusses the FDA's deciscion to halt a ban on bisphenol A, but to continue research on the facts regardless, and comments that "If the FDA doesn't know or isn't sure, it can't allow the chemical's use." This mention of the use of a precautionary principle is an important point, and highlights an unnessecary risk taken by the FDA. Baurs quotes Tom Philpott of Mother Jones in saying: