Progressive Women Legislators Lead on Plastic Pollution Protection

When you think of major environmental crises that California must work to address immediately, surely you imagine the results of climate change — uncontrolled wildfires; rising sea levels and beach erosion; decimated habitats that cause animal and plant extinctions. You may think of the urgent need for environmental justice, as low-income California families and especially low-income communities of color bear an overwhelming, disproportionate burden of health problems stemming from climate-related extreme weather like heat waves, as well as pollution in the air, water, and soil. Maybe you simply think of whales washing up on beaches, starved to death from indigestible trash filling their stomachs.

Plastic manufacture and pollution plays a major role in each of these environmental crises, and it’s getting worse. With the fossil fuel industry looking ahead to long term reduced demand for its products as fuel sources, oil companies instead are currently investing in plastic production to keep making profits from drilling, refining, and manufacturing activities.

The manufacture of, and waste created by, plastic and single-use consumer goods like takeout containers, shampoo bottles, shopping bags, and food wrappers contribute to so many environmental and human health problems. First, nearly every step of the plastic product manufacturing and distribution process contributes to climate change: from extracting non-renewable fossil fuels for the raw materials, to burning climate-damaging fuels for energy that’s needed during plastic production and transporting finished products to market. And after disposal, plastic waste breaks down in the environment, where it becomes microplastic particles that leach chemicals into rivers and coastal habitats, or is eaten by wildlife and marine creatures that die from the full plastic stomachs. Broken-down plastic and single-use items contaminate human drinking water sources, food supplies, and even the air we breathe. Human exposure to plastic and its associated toxins — especially as fetuses, babies and children — has been linked to all kinds of health problems, from birth defects, to cancer, to impaired immunity, to endocrine disruption.

And at every step of the way, these numerous problems from plastic pollution particularly affect impoverished communities, which, in California, are disproportionately Black and Brown families.

With women and children — especially women and children of color — bearing the effects of plastic pollution, it should come as no surprise that here in California, progressive women legislators are leading the way to stop these harmful products from being improperly disposed of or even produced in the first place. What’s more, these legislators are working to put new systems in place that better serve Californians and people around the world. It’s yet another reason why the Close the Gap team is fighting to ensure that progressive women legislators are running strong for seats in the California State Legislature.

Here are some laws from 2021 that progressive women legislators (including Close the Gap Recruits!) wrote to help solve the plastic pollution problem. All bills were signed into law on October 5, 2021:

• Former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), a longtime environmental champion who chaired the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee until her transition to head up the Labor Federation earlier this year, authored a new law (AB 881) supported by both Democrats and Republicans that helps ensure that California actually addresses its own plastic pollution crisis instead of hiding it in low-income nations. By ensuring the state accurately measures how much plastic actually gets recycled, this bill prohibits plastic waste exports to other countries being counted as “recycled”.
• Senator Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) wrote a new law (AB 962) that helps bars and brewing businesses to adopt sustainable solutions: the measure allows for easier reuse of glass bottles, which responds to business and consumer preferences by reducing the need for single-use beverage containers. This measure is a common sense solution that helps local economies and small businesses.
• Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) authored another 2021 law (AB 1276) that can cut small business costs and reduces plastic waste by giving takeout customers only what they want: ketchup packets, plastic forks and spoons, and other common plastic takeout items may only be provided upon consumer request.
• Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) authored a bipartisan-supported resolution (known as AJR 4) indicating California’s support for, and urging Congress to ratify the international Basel Convention, which protects low- and low-middle income nations from rich countries from exporting and dumping their contaminated waste. While this resolution was passed on July 15, 2021, the U.S. Congress has failed to ratify the Basel Convention. The United States is one of the few countries that has not.

Further, additional women legislators Assemblymembers Friedman and Rivas, and Senators Caballero, Eggman, and S. Rubio lent their strength as co-authors to the successful SB 343 (Allen) which prohibits companies from misleading the public about whether their plastic products are truly recyclable: the new law establishes truth-in-labeling requirements for single-use plastic items and allows companies to place the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol only on products that can realistically be recycled. It was passed into law on October 5, 2021.

In 2022, several of California’s progressive women legislators have announced their intention to leave as they run for Congressional seats or take new positions in the private sector. While it’s exciting to see so many women running for other elected offices, it means that it’s more important than ever before to ensure new progressive women candidates step up to carry the torch in our state house. If we can ensure more progressive women can mount winning campaigns, we can feel more confident that our elected officials will build on the environmental policy gains of the past year into the future, and that we’ll have strong voices to advocate for our planet and for future generations of Californians, especially those hardest hit by climate change.

California must build on the successes of last year, and progressive women legislators are at the forefront of advocating for progress. In 2022, we expect much more legislation that addresses the scourge of plastic waste that impacts our climate, hurts our health, and blights our communities. Close the Gap is continuously identifying, encouraging and preparing progressive women candidates seeking to protect our environment, in addition to our core values. Our Recruiting team is working hard to ensure that we have more outstanding women candidates than ever before who appear on the ballot in 2022 and beyond.

If you’re committed to fighting for a more equitable future for all Californians, please learn more about Close the Gap, and get involved in our campaign to achieve parity in the State Legislature by 2028.

Close the Gap California is committed to building on progressive women’s historic momentum by recruiting them statewide and achieving equality in California by 2028. Join us!

About Close the Gap California

Close the Gap California (CTGCA) is a statewide campaign launched in 2013 to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028. By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTGCA is changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time.

One in every four women in the Legislature is a CTGCA Recruit. Our Recruits are committed to reproductive justice, quality public education, and combatting poverty, and nine of 10 serving today are women of color.