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Rally to Urge Maryland General Assembly to Ban Plastic Bags
February 4, 2021 at 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Join Annapolis Green, Oceana, community organizers, businesses, and elected officials from across the state for a virtual rally and day of action in support of the Plastic Bag Reduction Act (HB314). This important bill would protect the six local laws already in existence in Maryland that limit plastic bags and implement a simple, statewide standard to ban them. Event organizers will lead rally goers in a mass phone bank and social media push to ensure lawmakers are hearing from their constituents on the issue. The rally occurs as microplastics and other forms of plastic pollution continue to accumulate in the Chesapeake Bay, threatening the 96,000 jobs and $6B in GDP in Maryland that depend on a clean coast.
Speakers:
- Delegate Brooke Lierman
- Senator Malcolm Augustine
- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott
- Anne Arundel County Executive Stuart Pittman
- Oliver Song, Howard County Conservancy Student Climate Change Institute
- Alexandra (Ali) DySard, Environmental & Partnerships Manager, MOM’s Organic Market (Annapolis Green Founding One Hundred supporter)
- Jared Littman, Owner, K&B True Value (Annapolis Green Founding One Hundred supporter)
Show your support for reducing the tide of plastic litter choking our community at this virtual rally. To register click here.
This issue affects our community in many ways. Global production of plastic is now projected to increase at least fourfold between 2014 and 2050. As plastic production increases, so will the amount of plastic that enters the ocean. This poses a direct threat to coastal tourism and other local businesses that depend on a healthy and clean marine environment — like those in Greater Annapolis. In Maryland, a healthy Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean support over 96,000 jobs and $6 billion in GDP. A study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) found that doubling marine debris on beaches in coastal Delaware and Maryland could result in a decrease of the number visitor days that people spend on beaches by nearly 3.5 million, a decrease in tourism spending by $254 million, and a loss of 3,300 local jobs.
