A groundbreaking California law that compels packaging producers to phase out single-use plastics is already sparking anger from the chemicals industry and environmental groups just weeks after going into effect.
The law, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 but only took effect in May, requires plastic and packaging companies to use less single-use plastic, and ensure by 2032 that all packaging is either recyclable or compostable. The big idea is to incentivize producers of plastics to consider the end of their products’ life in order to create better, more sustainable bottles, containers and wrappings.
Under the new rules, plastic producers have to cut single-use plastic, increase recycling rates, and pay $5bn to remedy harms from plastic pollution.
Another part of the problem is that the industries employ experts in their industry, while the government does not have experts in any industry, so they can baffle them with technical language and misleading figures.
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I work for the state. We have tons of experts. We have engineering phds, all kinds of scientists from environmental, chemistry, economy and so on. We literally do the above. We can’t over regulate, there is a balancing act.
No industry people are getting one up on us. Where things always fall apart is at the top when a governor or something steps in and says let it go or something like that. It’s rare but it does happen. Blue states are better than red by far but it still happens.
The government should employ experts to analyze the statements industry makes.
But… that costs money!!
So does naively shutting down your towns paper mill and destroying the town economy, or failing to improve the town’s quality of life and driving away productive residents or prospective residents.
But that’s literally socialism.
Employing independent experts to help legislators make descions is not socialism. It’s a common sense governmental policy that goes back to antiquity. See: kings having advisors.
While I was making a general joke given China’s recent reachouts and incentivization towards getting highly educated workers into government positions of power instead of solely relying on trained politicians with relatively limited work history before their political ambitions; workers controlling the means of production, which in any decently advanced government would be controlled by the government, is in fact socialism.