(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Governor Maura Healey from Massachusetts, stated during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Monday September 18th, that she will be signing an executive order banning the purchase of plastic water bottles by state agencies. Massachusetts will be the first state to implement the ban although others have tried. Several municipalities in Massachusetts have placed restrictions on single use plastics, but this will be the first at the state level.
Governor Healey said that the government is obligated to intervene and create better options for the environment. She boasted that Massachusetts is “glad to lead the way” for a cleaner and healthier environment. Her goal is for government intervention to decrease the damage being done to the environment by plastic products which she claims are one of the largest threats to the oceans.
According to the Sierra Club, Americans alone are responsible for using more than 50 million single use water bottles each year. Less than half of these bottles are actually recycled, and the rest end up in landfills.
Healey also announced that she plans on signing another executive order. This order will direct state agencies to set targets for biodiversity conservation. She plans to surpass the “30 by 30” initiative which is a global agreement between world leaders to conserve 30% of the planet’s land and water by the year 2030. Healey’s executive order will also set targets for 2040 and 2050.
Her goals are to slow the loss of salt marshes, a critical habitat in the area, find ways to protect inland areas from storm damage and develop strategies to remove large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. In Massachusetts there are 430 endangered species. Healey desires to protect them, the oceans, and the forests since she says they are the most “fundamental” climate resources available to us.
Healey’s order banning the purchase of single use plastic bottles by state agencies will go into effect immediately.
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