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Much controversy has been surrounding the NYC’s supersized soda ban. Here is an excerpt to share.

Excerpt from: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews-supersized-soda-ban

In September, New York City became the first to approve a ban that prohibits the sale of sugary drinks over 16 ounces in restaurants, movie theaters, and stadiums. However, the soda industry is prepared to fight and has filed a lawsuit against the ban.

The Board of Health approved the ban last month, which is set to take effect in March of 2013. The ban does not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy drinks, or even alcoholic beverages. Likewise, it does not apply to drinks sold in grocery stores. Establishments that do not comply with the ban could face fines of $200.

The suit was filed by the American soft-drink industry, and several New York restaurant and business groups.

“For the first time, they’re telling New Yorkers how much of certain safe and lawful beverages they can drink,” said Caroline Starke, a spokeswoman for the business groups.

The New York Times reports, “The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, contends that the Board of Health did not have the authority to ratify the new rules unilaterally.”

The 61-page filing asserts that soda restrictions are a type of de facto legislation by “executive fiat” and should therefore be considered by the City Council. The filing states that the rules approved by the Department of Health signify “a dramatic departure” from the traditional role of the health department.

“This case is not about obesity in New York City,” the plaintiffs wrote in the opening sentence of the suit. “This case is about the Board of Health, appointed by the mayor, bypassing the proper legislative process for governing the city.”

The suit also claims that the soda restriction “burdens consumers and unfairly harms small businesses at a time when we can ill afford it.”

Time magazine online notes:

The soda makers and sellers say the city is being a nanny-like nag to consumers and imposing an unfair, uneven burden on businesses. Manufacturers will have to get new bottles, and eateries will lose sales to competitors that aren’t covered by the rule, they say. A customer who couldn’t buy a 20-ounce soda at a pizzeria would be able to get a Big Gulp at a 7-Eleven, for instance, as convenience stores are under different regulations.

The mayor’s office rejects the arguments made in the lawsuit, calling the lawsuit “baseless.”

“The Board of Health absolutely has the authority to regulate matters affecting health, and the obesity crisis killing nearly 6,000 New Yorkers a year — and impacting the lives of thousands more — unquestionably falls under its purview,” Marc La Vorgna, chief spokesman for the mayor, wrote in a statement.

The lawsuit comes as no surprise, as the beverage industry staged a fierce campaign opposing the ban before it was approved by the Health Department.

Coca-Cola released a statement asserting that the company has already been addressing obesity by placing calorie counts on the front of its products. “The people of New York City are much smarter than the New York City Health Department believes,” the statement said. “New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this. They can make their own choices about the beverages they purchase.”

More to read: Excerpt from: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews-supersized-soda-ban

Repost from: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012

Blanca Rojas carries her purchases in plastic bags from Lucas Produce Market and Deli in Solana Beach, where a ban goes into effect in August. — Charlie Neuman

A statewide movement to sack plastic bags gained momentum last week when a Senate committee in Sacramento approved a ban similar to the one Solana Beach passed in April.

Several related initiatives are advancing a future where customers must bring their own bags to checkout counters or pay a small fee for a paper bag. Plastic bag prohibitions haven’t gotten much local traction beyond Solana Beach, but they cover roughly 50 cities statewide despite lawsuits by pro-bag groups determined to stave them off.

In May, Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to phase out plastic bags, which have emerged as a symbol of larger efforts to conserve natural resources and control ocean pollution. Now, ban backers such as Environment California are calling for uniform statewide rules rather than the emerging patchwork of policies.

“The last time this bill had a real serious effort was 2010, and that time, there was only a handful of cities that had banned plastic bags,” said Dan Jacobson, legislative director for the environmental group. “Now in 2012, we have 49 cities that have banned plastic bags … so legislators understand (the policy).”

State Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, voted last week as part of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee to pass the anti-bag bill, which was written by Julia Brownley, D-Oak Park. The proposal is now in the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Reducing the widespread use of single-use plastic bags is a good thing,” Kehoe said. “This bill is a step in the right direction.”

Several environmental groups and public agencies also support Brownley’s legislation, which Jacobson said still must be approved by floor votes in both houses. A recent assessment by a Senate committee said no opponents are officially on record, though it’s likely that the plastics industry will challenge the legislation.

While the statewide bag prohibition is debated, Solana Beach is preparing to enforce the first single-use bag ban in San Diego County. It takes effect Aug. 9 for grocery stores and pharmacies; some other stores and vendors have until Nov. 9 to comply.

Dan King, a senior analyst for Solana Beach, said the City Council will discuss an exemption for restaurants on Wednesday after threats of a lawsuit over including those establishments in the ban.

A handful of groups, such as the American Progressive Bag Alliance and

Savetheplasticbag.com, have sprouted in recent years to defend the standby sack in court and in city halls. They typically tout plastic bags as “the environmental choice” for consumers who reuse them for a variety of things and then have the option of recycling them. The groups also say plastic bags are more green than paper bags — part of a debate that’s lingered for years.

Despite recycling programs, Californians throw away 123,000 tons of plastic bags each year, according to Environment California. All kinds of plastic bits end up floating between California and Hawaii in an area that’s become known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where trash can circulate for years.

The amount of plastic in that area has increased by 100 times over the past 40 years, and it’s causing potentially significant changes in the marine food web, according to a recent study by UCLA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Solana Beach officials also are gearing up for the ban’s launch with outreach at civic events and letters to businesses. King said some chain stores already have bag-reduction programs in other cities and are tailoring them for Solana Beach.

“I haven’t heard a lot of negative feedback at all,” he said. “We are hoping it’s going to be as seamless as possible, but we know it’s going to take some time.”

What makes the month of May so merry ? It’s the month to celebrate:

(1) Cinco de Mayo

(2) Mother’s Day

(3) Bike to Work Day

(4) Memorial Day

(5) Kentucky Derby

(6) Daytona 500 & Indianapolis 500

Other Green activities going on:

This Thursday, May 17th, GreenBiz will be hosting a livecast of our VERGE London event. Its a FREE web event.

VERGE explores how sustainability initiatives and converging technologies enable radical efficiencies, break down silos, accelerate innovation, and create systemic change. The program is shaping up to be terrific, with topics covering Future Cities, Connected Cars, Redefining Intelligent Buildings, and Smart Energy. We’ll have participants from Vauxhall Motors, Volans, Whipcar, Microsoft, London School of Economics, IBM, just to name a few…

Registration is complimentary, and gives you access to the event, as well as archived content from all of VERGE conferences. Visit this link for more information, and registration: http://grn.bz/K3dI9u