With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Maura Healey made Massachusetts the primary state to declare it can now not buy single use plastic bottles.
Ahead of an government order signing ceremony held Thursday morning on the MassWildlife Field Headquarters alongside Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, and Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea, Healey informed an viewers of environmental employees and activists the order was a straightforward step to take towards tackling an unlimited drawback.
The order, Healey stated, “is one of the most immediate and tangible ways we make a difference right now.”
“We know that single-use plastics are among the biggest threats to our environment, our climate goals, and public health,” the governor stated. “They are made of fossil fuels, they produce and emit greenhouse gasses, and as waste we know the damage they do. Anyone looking around, we can see what turns up in our streams, our waterways, and the harm they cause to our oceans.”
Starting instantly state businesses are prohibited from buying any plastic bottles measuring beneath 21 fluid ounces, besides in instances of emergency response or preparedness. Healey introduced she would situation an order “banning single use plastics” earlier this week, when she was in New York for a Clinton Foundation occasion.
“No later than December 31, 2023, all executive department offices and agencies shall submit to the Operational Services Division and the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience a summary of the steps they have taken to halt the expenditures of state funds for the purchase of single-use plastic bottles and reduce the sale or re-sale of single use plastic bottles on state owned property,” Healey’s order reads, partially.
According to information shared by Healey’s workplace, Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles each hour. Even if residents take the time of throwing them within the recycling bin, the overwhelming majority of them — 85%, in keeping with one federal research — are by no means recycled. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, by 2050, there will probably be extra plastic within the ocean, by weight, than fish.
Healey additionally signed a second government order Thursday aimed toward directing the state to develop its personal biodiversity objectives.
According to the Governor, her order will make Massachusetts the chief nationally relating to preserving the number of native plant and animal species in our surroundings.
“This order, very intentionally, works to deliver the strongest biodiversity policy in America, ” she stated. “It allows us to surpass global standards of protecting 30% of land by 2030, it calls on us to develop conservation goals, not only for 2030, but for 2040 and 2050.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”