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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
05/19/2024 04:38 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20230&cosponId=40576
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House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: April 25, 2023 09:35 AM
From: Representative Christopher M. Rabb and Rep. Joe Ciresi, Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, Rep. Maureen E. Madden, Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, Rep. Jared G. Solomon, Rep. Perry S. Warren
To: All House members
Subject: Establishing a Plastic Pollution Task Force
 
Each year, residents of the United States purchase around 50 billion plastic water bottles, throw away nearly 100 billion bags, and use 500 billion plastic cups. Further, we use half a billion plastic drinking straws daily. These numbers are startling, especially when you consider that nearly every piece of plastic that has ever been made is still on earth.  
 
The effects of this discarded plastic on our planet, including marine and other wildlife, is perhaps even more startling: more than 240 species across the globe have had their lives cut short due to the ingestion and entanglement in plastic products. 
 
Just last year, a whale washed up on the beaches of Greece with 33 pounds of plastic in its stomach. Unfortunately, events like this occur on a regular basis throughout the world. It is time to say that we have had enough. It is time to say no more to single-use plastics that are destroying our planet.
 
In an effort to deal with this real and worsening crisis, this forthcoming legislation (formerly HB 1611) would create a Plastic Pollution Task Force in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. 
 
This task force would study a variety of issues, including reducing the amount of plastic entering the waste stream, reducing and removing existing plastic pollution, and restoring ecosystems that have been damaged by plastic pollution. While this legislation may not eliminate plastic-related pollution, it would be a big step forward in addressing this environmental problem.
 
Please join us in supporting a task force that would help us transition from polluters to restorers.


Introduced as HB1001