plastic

Udall and Lowenthal Lead Charge to Break Free From Plastic Pollution

The Senator and Representative introduce bold new federal plastics legislation

Last week, Senator Udall (D-NM) and Representative Lowenthal (D-CA), joined by Senator Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Clark (D-MA), announced that they were introducing federal legislation to combat the plastic pollution crisis.  The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act will go beyond past Congressional efforts to address plastic pollution, such as the Save Our Seas Act, …

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Guest Blogger Divya Rao: Sen. Udall and Rep. Lowenthal Champion New Legislative Effort to Curb Plastic Waste Pollution

Comprehensive federal legislation on single-use plastics, from bags to straws, anticipated to drop in Fall 2019

This past January, I was one of two students who had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. with the Surfrider Foundation and UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic to brief Congress on harms caused by marine plastic pollution and steps the federal government can take to combat the problem by reducing waste from …

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UCLA Environmental Law Clinic and Surfrider Foundation to Brief Congress on Marine Plastic Pollution Crisis

The problem is big, but federal action could help.

Next week, I’ll be in Washington, D.C. with the Surfrider Foundation and two of our fabulous Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic students, Charoula Melliou and Divya Rao, to brief Congress on harms caused by marine plastic pollution and steps the federal government can take to combat the problem. Plastic pollution is a serious issue, …

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Plastics and our Future

How to turn off the plastics spout?

Kudos to National Geographic for its stunner of an issue on plastics and the environmental harms they cause. As this latest report and many other recent stories make clear, we are drowning in plastics. Bits of plastic have been found in beer, in major brands of bottled water, in 75% of deep sea fish, in …

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Zero Trash

Using the Clean Water Act to Control Marine Debris in California

This post is cross-posted on EcoPerspectives, the environmental law and policy blog of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Let’s talk trash. Human-generated stuff that ends up in the ocean, termed “marine debris” or “marine trash,” presents a critical ocean and coastal management challenge. Trash can be found on coastlines and in seawater worldwide, from …

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Boehner Tweet on Plastics Sums Up Republican Disdain for the Environment

In hardly the biggest news story of the day, but one that really irks me, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted this morning, “The new majority — plasticware is back.”  He’s referring to the move by the Republican majority to eliminate deposed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s initiative to green the House of Representatives.  The initiative included — …

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