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CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR JERRY Brown said last night he will approve a ban on single-use plastic bags, in what would make the western US state the first to outlaw them.
Lawmakers passed the bill late last Friday, and it now only requires Brown’s signature to pass into law. The governor must do so before the end of September.
“I probably will sign it, yes,” Democratic veteran Brown said during a televised debate with his Republican election rival Neel Kashkari, who is trailing badly in opinion polls.
“In fact, I’ll tell you why I’m going to sign it: there are about 50 cities with their own plastic bag ban, and that’s causing a lot of confusion,” he said, cited by the Los Angeles Times and other media.
He added: “This is a compromise .. It’s taking into account the needs of the environment, and the needs of the economy and the needs of the grocers.”
In 2002, the Irish government introduced a plastic bag levy and became the first country in the world to do so. The levy resulted in a decrease of over 90% in the number of plastic bags in circulation in the country and encouraged supermarkets to switch to more sustainable bags.
It also raised over €200 million since its introduction.
Under the Californian legislation, single-use plastic bags would disappear from grocery stores and pharmacies from 1 July, 2015, and then from convenience and liquor stores from 1 July, 2016.
The bill would allow stores to charge 10 cents for paper or reusable bags. Similar bans, backed by environmentalists, are already in place in cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
A ban is opposed by Republicans who say it would be too much government meddling for small and medium sized businesses, and by bag manufacturers who fear job losses.
Kashkari – who latest polls indicate trails by 50%to 34%for the November 4 gubernatorial post – said he opposes the legislation.
“No chance would I sign that bill,” he said in yesterday’s debate.
- © AFP 2014 with additional reporting by Michelle Hennessy.
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Looks like Joan rivers went at the right time so.
hahahahaha! Brilliant.
That’s the type of humour she loved. If there’s journal in hell she’d be green thumbing that one.
This was one of the better laws we made along with the smoking ban.
Plastic bags banned, kinder eggs illegal….. But a kid can buy a gun and go on a shooting spree. Prioritise lads.. ‘Murica Fu*k Ya’
Wow. Anne-Marie, could you tell me where a “kid” can legally buy a gun in the US? That’s news to me!
I Didn’t say legally :-o :-D
They can legally, go to a firing range and use a Uzi for example, and we all know how that ends up
Well a kid could buy a gun in ireland illegally too if he was from the right area
You can hardly compare gun crimes here and in US…mountains and molehills. If you lived in the “right” area!? I would rather live in the wrong area then…safer :-D
That tragic incident happened in Arizona. I have fired an Uzi on full automatic and it’s recoil is powerful. It is shocking that this instructor permitted a child to use such a lethal weapon. Sometimes safety awareness leaves a lot to be desired in the USA, across every sector of life.
I worked in a shop around the time of the introduction of the bag levy. It used to really annoy me when a customer would be buying something like a small tin of tuna and would ask for a plastic bag. I always thought, “ye know what, that would easily fit in your pocket”. Loads of people moaned about the levy, but as soon as it was introduced people immediately stopped asking for bags. After a couple of months no one moaned and it became normalised.
They have one less plastic bag to worry about,after Joan Rivers sad demise.
I shouldn’t laugh…but I did anyway
“California to become first US state to ban plastic bags”
“I probably will sign it, yes”
“probably” is not a very convincing word
The pregnancy rate will rise dramatically!
Excellent the idea. Hope the rest of the world will follow suit.
€200 million raised – what’s that money spent on??
You wouldn’t believe the outcry from the “business community” over this law. The plastic bag manufacturer’s association filed lawsuits and predicted financial Armageddon. They failed to mention that Ireland had already done what California was doing.
One line in the story jumped out at me: “The bill would allow stores to charge 10 cents for paper or reusable bags.”
One wonders why a provision is needed in a law to allow a merchant to charge what they see fit for a bag. If they charged $0.50 for a bag would they be arrested or cited?
Ireland hasn’t done this already. California are straight up banning plastic bags. In Ireland you can still get them at 22c a pop. California is more progressive with this issue.
Apparently if you hand in 10 plastic bags you get a free Uzi…sounds like a fair deal.
So they are going to cut down more tree’s instead? #ironic
#ironic #indeed #how #do #you use #hashtags
…they just got rid of their first bag yesterday…
In a state that’s almost bankrupt it’s good to see the governor is focused on the issues hitting citizens hardest….. *tumbleweed*
Narrow view there. How much dosh is spent on disposing of backs and clearing up their environmental impact? How much does it cost the state to ban it? I’m betting there’s a large difference between the two.
big deal……a ban on single bag usage…….catch up ffs!
They’re the first ones to do this as far as I can tell.
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