I really feel that 2008 is going to be the year that things take a turn for the better and people get really serious about preserving the future earth. The evidence is coming in every day. (For every 2 steps forward, it seems we take at least one back, but today I want to focus on the positive.
First of all, China announced on Tuesday that the country will ban the use of plastic bags, starting June 1st, 2008. According to USA Today, under the new rules, businesses will be prohibited from manufacturing, selling or using bags less than 0.025 millimeters (0.00098 inches) thick, according to the order issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet. The council's orders constitute the highest level of administrative regulation, and follow-through is carefully monitored. More durable plastic bags will be permitted for sale by markets and shops. The regulation, dated Dec. 31 and posted on a government website Tuesday, calls for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets to reduce the use of plastic bags."
Second, the New York City Council passed a bill yesterday that will require retailers who distribute plastic bags to collect and recycle them. The bill was originally introduced by Christine Quinn and Peter F. Vallone Jr. It applies only to stores larger than 5,000 square feet or with more than 5 branches in the city. It is expected that Mayor Bloomberg will sign the bill within days. It will go into effect 6 months after that. Notice that the city has not banned the bags altogether, like San Francisco and China. Ms. Quinn says this is because they don't want to encourage the use of paper bags, which are also not an environmentally-sound choice. For more information on the story, see today's New York Times.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in New York verses China and San Francisco, which have taken very different approaches to the problem. It will also be interesting to see if a large enough market develops for recycled plastic products.
But, with those two steps forward, we did take a step back this week too. One year ago, the US Fish & Wildlife Service proposed listing the polar bear as an endangered species due to predictions from climate scientists that their habitat will go into extensive decline over the next 50 years. Under the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish & Wildlife Service has one year to announce a final decision. Instead, they have delayed the decision one extra month. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, many environmental groups suspect that this is so that the administration can move forward with an oil lease sale on February 6th of land in the Chukchi Sea, which is an important part of their habitat.
This delay comes despite the overwhelming public support for the polar bear's listing. According to the National Resources Defense Council, to date, the government has received more than 500,000 comments in support of protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, including letters from eminent polar bear experts, climate scientists, and more than 60 members of Congress. This is a record number of public comments in support of an Endangered Species Act listing.
If you want to make your opinion on this matter heard, you can contact the secretary of the interior, who oversees the Fish & Wildlife Service, Dirk Kempthorne. His address is 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240. His telephone numbers are (202) 208-3100 and (800) 344-9453.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Two Steps Forward; One Step Back
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I share TFE's enthusiasm for this year. It really does feel like a "tipping point" (to use a buzzword) has been reached in public opinion and motivation. I think general understanding and the will to do something are growing daily; but the problem for most people will be in finding things to do on an individual level that will contribute to making a difference. Which is why I read TFE— it's always directing me to ways I can change for the better.
Unfortunately, it seems understanding and will for change is in short supply at the top levels of our country. For all the great initiatives taken on a personal and local (city, state) level, the government run by the Bush administration makes inaction and complicity its watchword. Actually, more and more often, the guiding principles seem to be redaction and duplicity. Whatever's good for business, right? It couldn't be more transparent for the polar bear... "you, Mr. Bear, are in the way of oil profit; and that makes you expendable. Tell that to Ms. Penguin, because she and her kids are next on the list." The Fish & Wildlife Service shows itself to be yet another rubber-stamp agency, like the EPA or FDA, whose original mandate and guiding principles are now a hollow shell; simply a sock puppet disguising the Bush administration's pro-business, anti-government, care-less-about-the-world-so-long-as-we-and-our-cronies-are-raking-in-the-big-bucks iron fist.
On another note... it is interesting to note the difference in plastic bag initiatives in San Francisco and New York. I'm usually adverse to the stereotypical Cali vs. NYC generalities (having been a resident of both areas) but I have to say that the choices each area made don't necessarily destroy any cliches. San Francisco takes the idealistic route, while New York follows what may be a more pragmatic path. Either way, they are positive steps; and I'm proud of both areas for taking initiatives that Washington won't.
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