Plastic is forever
A few months ago Governor Jerry Brown signed
Senate Bill 270 into law. It effectively ended the use of plastic bags in California. Daily Kos diarist ybruti covered it
here. Yesterday, the ban was put on hold until a
referendum is voted on in 2016.
Officials said that based on a random sample of 800,000 names submitted by the American Progressive Bag Alliance at the end of last year, opponents to the ban had mustered 555,000 names — more than the 505,000 needed to force a vote.
The signatures qualify it for referendum. The people of California will vote on it. That's how democracy works!
How were these signatures obtained?
“It’s not surprising that after spending more than $3.2 million, 98 percent of which is from out of state, the plastic bag industry has bought its way onto the California ballot to protect its profits,” said Mark Murray of Californians vs. Big Plastic, an advocacy group that supported the plastic bag ban and includes the Sierra Club, Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation.
Murray’s group filed a complaint alleging signature gathers for the referendum used deceptive practices, including misleading registered voters about whether they were seeking to keep or repeal the plastic bag ban. Padilla declined to review the complaint due to his conflict as the law’s author, prompting the group to refile with Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office last month. A review of that complaint is pending.
Unfortunately, as a resident of California, I will now have to watch and read excruciating ads about people losing jobs and children crying and apes rising up to take our place in the food chain because they cannot have plastic bags in their lives anymore.