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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 29 april 2022
California subpoenas ExxonMobil in probe of plastics waste

By DON THOMPSON exceeded 9%, said Bonta.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The rest is incinerated, put
California's attorney gen- into landfills or escapes into
eral on Thursday subpoe- the environment.
naed ExxonMobil as part of California is among states
what he called a first-of-its- that have struggled to en-
kind broader investigation courage recycling against
into the petroleum industry market headwinds and to
for its alleged role in caus- sort out products that can
ing a global plastic pollu- readily be reused.
tion crisis. California banned single-
Attorney General Rob use plastic bags and is dis-
Bonta said the industry for couraging the use of drink-
decades has encouraged ing straws, plastic utensils
the development and use and condiment packages.
of petroleum-based plas- The Los Angeles City Coun-
tic products while seeking cil this week approved 14
to minimize public under- measures further restrict-
standing that their wide- ing the use of plastic bags,
spread use harms the envi- utensils and containers at
ronment and public health. city properties and events.
"Every week, we consume Los Angeles County super-
the equivalent of a cred- visors last week restricted
it cards worth of plastic Cans and plastic bottles brought in for recycling fill containers at a recycling center in Sacra- single-use plastic products.
through the water we drink, mento, Calif., July 5, 2016. California spends about
the food we eat, and the Associated Press $500 million each year to
air we breathe," he said, clean up plastic pollution
citing a 2019 study for the bold actions at the state, Companies may have vio- proceeding "with a level of in waterways and along
World Wide Fund For Na- federal, and international lated laws barring unfair urgency." beaches, said Bonta, a
ture environmental group. levels." competition, deceptive Bonta's move comes amid Democrat who is running
Bonta will consider whether Initiatives the industry group business practices, or mak- growing awareness of the for reelection this year. He
petrochemical companies said it supports include re- ing "greenwashing" illegal, pervasiveness of discard- announced the investiga-
violated the law with what quiring all plastic packag- Bonta said. ed plastics and the role of tion with an ocean back-
he called their "historic and ing in the U.S. by 2030 to in- A civil lawsuit could poten- "microplastic" waste in the drop at Dockweiler State
ongoing efforts to deceive clude at least 30% recycled tially seek fines or damag- food chain. Beach in Southern Califor-
the public." Bonta said Exx- plastic; making producers es, but Bonta said his main Scientists are still study- nia.
onMobil was subpoenaed responsible for packaging goal is a legal order or a ing the extent and human Petrochemical companies
as a major source of global to help increase recycling; settlement requiring com- harm from tiny bits of bro- have ramped up plastics
plastics pollution and for its and supporting a legally panies to clean up plastic ken-down plastic, some so production as the use of
alleged prominent role in binding global agreement waste, make plastics man- small that they are invisible fossil fuels is gradually re-
public deception regard- to confront the problem. ufacturing changes and to the naked eye. placed by renewable en-
ing plastics. But Bonta said the industry promote "non-deceptive The National Academy of ergy, he said. About 1.5
ExxonMobil and the West- appears to have engaged ways of talking about plas- Sciences said in Decem- million tons of plastic pro-
ern Plastics Association did in "greenwashing" for de- tics." ber that the United States duced globally on an an-
not immediately comment, cades by leading consum- "We're really looking at the — the world's top plastics nual basis in the 1950s. The
and the Western States ers to believe that plas- underlying issue of non- waste producer — should amount is now more than
Petroleum Association de- tics were environmentally recyclability, essentially, of reduce its plastics produc- 300 million tons annually.
clined comment. friendly — largely because plastics, and that is a ma- tion because so much The Center for Biological Di-
But the American Chem- they can be recycled. jor problem," Bonta said. winds up in the ocean and versity called Bonta's inves-
istry Council representing That marketing effort made "And we're investigating other waterways. tigation "a crucial step," but
plastics makers issued a "people comfortable to whether that was fueled by Like Bonta, the scientists said plastic and its produc-
statement saying that U.S. consume more and pur- a decades-old campaign have said that recycling tion is ultimately incompat-
"plastic makers are com- chase more plastic," he of deception." won't solve the problem. ible with a healthy planet.
mitted to a more sustain- said. "And that is really the There is no timeline for the Most plastic cannot be "We have to stop produc-
able future and have pro- heart of the deception that completion of the investi- recycled and overall re- ing plastic junk," the group
posed comprehensive and we're going to investigate." gation, but Bonta said it is cycling rates have never said in a statement.q

GOP-led states ask courts to stop

changes to U.S. asylum cases

ABILENE, Texas (AP) — Re- The lawsuits pile onto an start of the COVID-19 pan-
publican efforts to stop already busy week over im- demic.The Biden adminis-
the Biden administration migration policy. The U.S. tration estimated last year
from changing how asy- Supreme Court is question- that it would need to hire
lum claims on the U.S. bor- ing a rule that forces some 800 more employees for
der are handled widened asylum-seekers to wait asylum officers to handle
A migrant waits on the Mexican side of the border after United Thursday as Texas and Ari- in Mexico, and a federal about 75,000 cases a year.
States Customs and Border Protection officers detained a cou- zona asked courts to block judge in Louisiana tempo- Without more money and
ple of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border on the beach, in new procedures that could rarily stopped the phaseout new positions, it is unclear
Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 26, 2022. decide asylum cases in of asylum restrictions that how much impact the
Associated Press months, instead of years. were put in place at the move will have at first.q