We Get (More) Letters

We Need Responsible Legislatures

As I observe the fires devastating our communities, I think of our state legislators who approve measures that can help address climate change, the plastics crisis and global pollution. But this was not a good year for such action. This year only four environmental bills were brought to the floor for vote since the session was shortened due to the virus. Two of these bills were poised to make California a leader in managing plastic waste. The bills made manufacturers accountable for the plastic they use in their packaging and products, and utilized existing infrastructure to recycle 75% of plastic by 2032. The Senate voted on the Assembly bill AB1080 (August 30, 2020) passing it 23 to 12. Next the Senate bill SB54 moved to the Assembly floor (Monday 31st August), but many Assembly-member’s failed to act on California’s behalf. where it died. The bill needed 41 votes but only received 37 Ayes vs 18 Noes. A majority could not be reached because 24 Assembly-members never voted.

I don’t know why 24 Assembly-members failed to vote, but I do know that plastic lobbyists donate a lot of money to our representatives. Many of the Senators and Assembly-members received from one to four donations from plastics lobbyists over the last two years. Several of those representatives who voted Aye on the bills in 2019 received donations in February and/or June of this year, and then did not cast a vote this past August.

When I looked deeper into my own Assembly-member’s campaign donations, I saw that the Energy and Natural Resources Sector provided $100k of his $563k donations, and he too took money from the plastic industry and he too changed his vote from supporting the bill to not voting on it. I was stunned not only by the various corporate donations he received but also by how much money he had amassed in his role as a public servant.

These failed plastics recycling bills would have reduced plastic consumption and plastic waste, they would have reduced the energy and water demand needed to create plastic, the fossil fuels altered to make plastic resins, the greenhouse gas emissions from plastics lifecycles, the microplastics and the disruptive chemicals in the materials that contain our foods and everything else that touches our lives. Ultimately these bills would have helped reign-in climate change and thus mitigate disasters like the fires threatening the lives and livelihoods of so many right now. We deserve elected officials who represent what is in our best interest, not the lobbyists fueling the fires.

Cheryl Auger

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