The California Legislature is considering several bills to protect beaches and the Pacific Ocean. One bill would ban the use of certain chemicals in plastic packaging. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.
Several environmental groups are sponsoring legislation to prevent and reduce the amount of trash flowing into the ocean. Called the Pacific Protection Initiative, the flotilla of five bills seeks controls on plastic and Styrofoam packaging. Dan Jacobson is with Environment California. He says one bill would reduce toxic trash that threatens marine animals.
Jacobson : What this bill would do is it would restrict six dangerous chemicals from being used in the manufacturing of packaging that's sold here in the state. The reason is because a lot of this packaging ends up in our ocean where it's killing marine life and damaging our ocean and is horrible for California's tourist economy.
The state assembly will consider three ocean protection bills next week, including one that requires take-out food containers to be recyclable. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.
