Cities and states across America are pondering whether to ban plastic drinking straws, but the anti-pollution measures are encountering opposition.
Environmental groups argue that stricter plastic regulations are necessary because decades of attempts to recycle plastics have failed miserably.Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.California became the first state last year to require that sit-down restaurants give plastic straws only to customers who request them.
Despite opposition from restaurant and industry groups, progress on banning straws and other single-use plastics won’t be stopped, Kate Melges, who leads the anti-plastics campaign for Greenpeace, said via email. Straws are seen by some activists as a “gateway plastic” — highly visible but not essential to many consumers — that is a good target for initial legislation.
Oregon environmental groups don’t like a law that would prevent cities from experimenting with straw bans. “It’s never been implemented anywhere in the state of Oregon,”said, “thus prescribing the statewide solution, definitively with pre-emption, is poor policy before we’ve implemented on the ground in at least one city.”
“In the climate we are in today, cities very much understand they can be at the forefront of policy on toxics or plastics or climate change,” Raphael said. “These pre-emptive actions by states strike at the heart of our ability to have an engaged, democratic system.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A century before Elon Musk’s Tesla, electric cars were popular in many citiesIn Washington at the beginning of the 20th century, first ladies were among those who embraced electric models as cleaner and easier to drive.
Read more »
Are small cities the smartest?Urban development has become less about infrastructure and more about technology. Case in point: A city in Finland with a vacuum waste system, where people simply take their trash to a port and it gets sucked to an underground disposal center
Read more »
7 Cities Where You'll Need A 6-Figure Salary To Afford A Median-Priced HomeHere’s a look at seven metropolitan areas in the U.S. where you will need to earn a six-figure annual salary to buy a median-priced home.
Read more »
One big reason to move your family out of certain cities — and fastResearchers looked at satellite imagery of Denmark to figure out how much green space was around the homes of children.
Read more »
The Latest: China hails Pakistan's move to release pilotISLAMABAD (AP) — The Latest on escalating India-Pakistan tensions (all times local): 3:10 p.m. China welcomes Pakistan's decision to 'express kindness' and hand over a captured Indian...
Read more »
Orange County and South O.C. cities sued for not stepping up to house the homelessAdvocates sue five O.C. cities, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano and the county for not providing housing for the homeless.
Read more »
These are the cities where you can live comfortably on $50,000 a yearThese are the cities where $50,000 will go furthest.
Read more »
Amazon is reportedly launching a brand-new line of grocery stores in major US citiesAmazon is gearing up to launch a new line of supermarkets in large US cities as soon as this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read more »