KINGSTON – Governor Andrew Cuomo visited the Maritime Museum on Kingston’s Rondout waterfront, homeport of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, on Monday, to sign the new law banning single-use plastic bags. The prohibition takes effect in March 2020.
“It’s a plastic bag, looks harmless enough; you can roll it up into a little ball, almost make it disappear, but it is a major threat to the environment, only getting worse, the numbers are staggering,” Cuomo said. “The average length of use, 12 minutes. Americans use 160 billion per years. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to make these bags. New Yorkers use 23 billion per year.”
Cuomo acknowledged it will initially be a “minor inconvenience” to remember to bring reusable bags when shopping. “Yes, you will have to remember to bring the reusable bag to the store. But in the scope of things, it is a trivial insignificant act, when you consider the scope of the damage,” he maintained.
Consumers may use instead the old-fashioned paper bags, for a five-cent fee; three-cents allocated to the Environmental Protection Fund; and the remaining two cents will go towards providing reusable bags to the community.
Exceptions include plastic for restaurant and deli, garment, bulk items, trash and recycling use.
“It is common sense, a relatively trivial change in our lifestyle,” Cuomo said. “it will make a major difference in our planet and in our waterways, and in this state, a bill that is long overdue, but is going to be signed today.”
The governor was joined by numerous local public officials, including acting Ulster County executive Adele Reiter, State Senator Jennifer Metzger, Kingston Mayor Steven Noble, and many others.
Cuomo also spent an equal amount of time discussing global warming and climate change, ridiculing the environmental policies of the Trump administration in Washington D.C. He promised to bring New York to 100 percent renewable electric energy by 2040.
“This nation is, in many ways, in denial. How people can look at what’s going on, and deny climate change, deny that we’re degrading the planet, deny extreme weather, you literally have to be disconnected from reality. We have a government that is in denial, that is going back the other way.”
A similar bill was passed by California in 2016 and Hawaii passed county laws statewide banning plastic bags.
Metzger expressed her happiness with the addition of the Empire State to the list, timed for the 49th anniversary of Earth Day.
“It’s a great day for the environment, and I’m thrilled that this has been passed,” she said. “Ulster County was a real leader on this, but we needed to do it statewide.” Metzger’s election in 2018 helped Democats grab control of the State Senate, gaining enough votes to pass the law. Ulster County’s earlier version of the law, passed in October 2018, takes effect July 15, 2019. Former County Executive Michael Hein, now part of Cuomo’s cabinet, was on hand for Monday’s signing, and received honorable mention from the governor.
