Environment

Bill To Ban Plastic Bags Introduced In State Legislative Committees

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published April 12, 2010 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The legislation would regulate paper carryout bags at supermarkets, retail pharmacies and convenience stores throughout the state.

There are several environmental bills scheduled for hearings in California state legislative committees this week. But the chances for passage appear slim.

Steve Aceti with the California Coastal Coalition said he's talked to key democratic legislators who say this session may be a quote "no-go year for environmental bills."

One bill being heard Tuesday in committee would ban single-use plastic carryout bags.

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The legislation would also regulate paper carryout bags at supermarkets, retail pharmacies and convenience stores throughout the state.

Aceti said there are now more democratic legislators who will not support bills perceived to cost jobs or hurt the economy.

"The plastic bag ban and the polystyrene ban, we were told, may not see the light of day by the end of the session," said Aceti.

Dan Jacobson with Environmental California is more optimistic. “I actually think the bag bill has a good chance to pass since there is some momentum for this issue,” Jacobson said.

Aceti with CalCoast said Californians use an estimated 19 billion single-use plastic bags every year and fewer than 5-percent are recycled.

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Aceti said most plastic bags wind up in landfills, beaches and the ocean.

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Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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