Just got off the phone with Charlie Plybon of Oregon Surfrider. Plybon says SB 1009, the bill to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail locations is done for the session.
Plybon says sponsor Senator Mark Hass of Beaverton withdrew the bill this afternoon. He quoted Hass as telling the Environment and Natural Resources Committee there wasn’t enough of a consensus for it.
Work on the environment community’s agenda for the special session resumes Tuesday.
The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee becomes the unofficial epicenter in the afternoon when it takes up two of the most important green bills of the session.
Starting with….
TUESDAY:
Ban The Bag
The Portland Chapter of Oregon Surfrider gets serious about a bill before the legislature to ban single use plastic bags in Oregon. Tonight’s meeting is about giving members the tools for activism, presenting, and engaging in the Ban the Bag Campaign. The chapter has previously supported a 20-cent per bag fee in Portland. But that campaign appears to be taking a back seat now that legislators are showing some interest in a statewide ban.
Details: 7:30pm, at the offices of WEND magazine, 2001 NW 19th, Suite 103 B, Portland.
Some updates to pass along on three bills we’re following in the special session.
Bills to ban offshore drilling and plastic bags are hanging in there. The plastic bag ban even received an unexpected boost. Then there’s a bill that would make it harder for LNG projects to win state approval. That bill has finally found a home.
