Businesses Lobby During "Earth Month" to Protect Plastic Bags [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
The Progressive Bag Alliance [3], the American Chemistry Council [4] and Wal-Mart Stores [5] were among the parties who successfully lobbied Democratic Pennsylvania State Representative Lisa Bennington [6] to weaken a bill she introduced that would have phased out the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags at large grocery stores. The business and industry groups convinced the legislator to water down her bill, so that retailers are only required to offer bag recycling programs. The change fits a lobbying strategy [7] used repeatedly by the Progressive Bag Alliance, a front group [8] for plastics and polymer manufacturers. Wal-Mart quietly lobbied against this bill while greening up its public image. The giant retailer announced new "Earth-friendly" products like organic disposable baby wipes [9], and ran "Earth Month" TV ads [10] featuring people standing in forests, grassy fields and by streams, while promoting Wal-Mart products.