California’s Dangerous Plastic Bag Ban

“California Bans Single-Use Plastic Bags,” by American Council on Science and Health.
This past Tuesday, Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. signed a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags in grocery and convenience stores, making California the first state to ban plastic bags. The law will take effect in July 2015, when plastic bags will be phased out of stores and supermarkets including Wal-Mart and Target. Retailers are also allowed to charge a 10 cent fee for using paper bags. Plastic bag manufacturers immediately began to work to repeal the law. Lee Califf, executive director of the American Progressive Bag Alliance (APBA), a group operating under SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, stated that Senate Bill 270 will “jeopardize thousands of California manufacturing jobs, hurt the environment and fleece consumers for billions so grocery store shareholders and their union partners can line their pockets.” Read more.