The Daily Populous

Sunday July 3rd, 2022 day edition

image for Single-use plastic waste is getting phased out in California under a sweeping new law

(CNN) In an attempt to slash the wide-ranging impacts of plastic pollution, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the country's most sweeping restrictions on single-use plastics and packaging on Thursday, the same day the Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to tackle the worsening climate crisis.

The law requires that single-use packaging and plastic single-use food serviceware be recyclable or compostable by 2032.

It also requires by 2032 a 25% reduction in the sales of plastic packaging and for 65% of all single-use plastic packaging to be recycled.

And it establishes an accountability group, which will include industry representatives, to run a new recycling program overseen by the state.

Stakeholders negotiated the language around the bill, attempting to design a law that would significantly cut plastic production, ramp up recycling and composting and shift the burden of plastics pollution to industry.

Newsom signed the law just as the US Supreme Court ruled that the federal Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate planet-warming emissions from power plants.

The opinion was roundly criticized by environmental advocates and scientists who have been sounding the alarm that the world is running out of time to get the climate crisis under control. »

‘Polluting the air we breathe’: Mechanic sentenced for selling thousands of devices that allowed trucks to bypass emissions controls

Authored by marketwatch.com

Matthew Sidney Geouge, 35, of Hendersonville, N.C., pleaded guilty last year to violating the Clean Air Act and tax evasion.

Some drivers believe the federally mandated control systems, which drastically reduce pollution, inhibit the performance of their trucks.

In 2015, the EPA issued a citation to Geouge ordering him to stop selling the devices, which prosecutors say he ignored. »

China’s Vast Maritime Claims Are Becoming Reality

Authored by thediplomat.com

Wang began by addressing Canada’s protests over China’s harassment of its reconnaissance aircraft, which were enforcing United Nations sanctions of North Korea.

Under this formulation, this vast maritime commons is unilaterally reclassified as China’s domestic territory, ostensibly marking it outside of UNCLOS’ purview.

Thus, when a U.N.-mandated tribunal ruled in 2016 that its claims were nonsense, Beijing could simply shrug its shoulders. »

Spain to crack down on videogame 'loot boxes' blamed for pathological behaviour

Authored by reuters.com

The loot boxes – digital packages of virtual items that can be purchased using real money - are an important source of developers' revenue.

They give players the chance to win desirable or often randomised game-changing equipment, and allow gaming companies a stream of high-margin income.

Loot boxes have introduced similar features to those of traditional gambling, including the randomness of prizes that have a quantifiable value, and a cost to activate the mechanism. »

Texas Republicans Get Deadly Serious About Secession

Authored by thebulwark.com

The Texas GOP platform is routinely viewed as a hodgepodge of far-right fantasies, and these planks do nothing to contradict that verdict.

Given that Texas supposedly “retains the right to secede from the United States,” the “Texas Legislature should be called upon to pass a referendum” on secession.

Last year, an American legislator filed the first serious bill since the Civil War calling for a referendum on secession. »