California has fired the first salvo in what could be a national war on plastic bags.
Governor Edmund Brown on Tuesday signed into law a bill that bans plastic shopping bags, making California the first U.S. state to officially prohibit stores from handing them out for free.
"This bill is a step in the right direction -- it reduces the ******* of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself," Brown said in a statement. "We're the first to ban these bags, and we won't be the last."
The ban is a victory for environmentalists who say the 13 million plastic bags that are handed out each year in the state end up in waterways and landfills where they don't break down for decades. Critics argue that the ban is misguided and will cost American jobs.
The new law goes into effect for large grocery chains and pharmacies beginning July 1, 2015. It will extend to convenience stores and liquor stores July 1, 2016.
Under the law, stores will be required to offer customers recycled paper bags or bags made of compostable material at a cost of at least 10 cents. Consumers buying groceries using California's food-assistance program won't have to pay for bags.
The law also provides $2 million in state-backed loans to help businesses transition to reuseable bags.
California is the first to ban plastic bags at the state level. But Hawaii has local ordinances on its four main islands that prohibit plastic bags.
Several cities and municipalities already have similar laws on the books. San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic bags in 2007. Los Angeles announced a ban earlier this year. Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Ore. and Austin, Tx, are other cities where plastic bags are not welcome.
Nice. It's good that the west coast states go first, because they're the closest to the Pacific Ocean. I hope that my country will follow, but the right wing parties would never agree with a law like that.
