US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1325

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores, driven to action by pollution in streets and waterways.

A national coalition of plastic bag manufacturers immediately said it would seek a voter referendum to repeal the law, which is scheduled to take effect in July 2015.

Under SB270, plastic bags will be phased out of checkout counters at large grocery stores and supermarkets such as Wal-Mart and Target starting next summer, and convenience stores and pharmacies in 2016. The law does not apply to bags used for fruits, vegetables or meats, or to shopping bags used at other retailers. It allows grocers to charge a fee of at least 10 cents for using paper bags.

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, credits the momentum for statewide legislation to the more than 100 cities and counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, that already have such bans.

The law marks a major milestone for environmental activists who have successfully pushed plastic bag bans in cities across the U.S., including Chicago, Austin and Seattle. Hawaii is also on track to have a de-facto statewide ban, with all counties approving prohibitions.

"This bill is a step in the right direction — it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself," Brown said in a signing statement. "We're the first to ban these bags, and we won't be the last."

Plastic bag manufacturers have aggressively pushed back through their trade group, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, which aired commercials in California blasting the ban as a cash-giveaway to grocers that would lead to a loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

On October 02 2014 04:43 oneofthem wrote:
oh of course. pay per view too, maybe?

gladiatorial combat probably won't be all that interesting though. we alraedy have plenty of that.

On October 02 2014 05:53 screamingpalm wrote:
Heh, forgot about that Carlin skit, cheers! Sort of funny where the sarcastic logical conclusion will take you. :D

On October 02 2014 06:30 bookwyrm wrote:
October is "officially" the last month of open market operations... only 10B of magic, free lunch, totally non-inflationary liquidity injections left in the punchbowl... I'm stocking up on popcorn...

any of our resident central bank cultists wanna make some reassurances about how everything is awesome and under control? I know we're all too dumb to understand the complicated math that grounds your incontrovertible opinions, but it will make us all feel better to hear you say it

here's a nice article from Pravda, I mean sorry the NYT, preparing us all for the prospect of forking over more taxpayer money to pigs - link. (and a "me too!" from that venerable mouthpiece of critical inquiry, the Economist) Nice coincidental timing on this article!

+ Show Spoiler +

On October 02 2014 10:59 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

What's a 'central bank cultist'? A dove?