Sierra Club Slams House and Senate Conference Committee for Lack of Plastic Bag Ban in Bond Bill

BOSTON--The Massachusetts House and Senate Conference Committee finalized an Environmental Bond Bill last night that did not include language banning single use plastic bags. Such language had been included in the Senate version of the bond bill.

In response, Emily Norton, Massachusetts Chapter Director for the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

"We are very disappointed the legislature did not take action to ban single use plastic bags this session.  Over eighty cities and towns have voted to ban these bags in their own communities, representing over a third of Massachusetts residents. Plastic bags are rarely recycled and often end up as litter in our parks, roadways and waterways, where they harm or kill wildlife and marine animals. Massive floating plastic gyres are a growing problem in our oceans. While a ban on bags here in Massachusetts would not solve global plastic pollution problem, it would demonstrate leadership that other states and countries would follow.

“We are particularly disappointed in the conference committee co-chairs, Senator William Brownsberger and Rep. David Nangle, as they could have included the plastic bag ban in the final version of the bill and chose not to.

“We are not done with this fight. As Gandhi said "When the people lead, the leaders will follow." We will keep supporting the efforts of local community leaders to get more local bans enacted, and use that growing momentum to pressure our state leaders to have the courage to take action to reduce plastic pollution in our communities.”