NYC Reps Fight Trump With Planned Plastic Ban At His Properties

NEW YORK CITY — City officials hope to fight Donald Trump’s repeal of the plastic bottle ban by outlawing sales at some of his own properties, along with New York parks and beaches.

Three city councilmen will introduce legislation to block water bottle sales in New York’s public recreational areas — including the Trump-operated Wollman and Lasker rinks and the Ferry Point golf course — after the president repealed the six-year ban on selling plastic bottles in national parks, according to a press statement released Monday.

“In the face of the Trump administration's regressive and profit-driven agenda, it is time we step up and do our part to curb our reliance on single use bottles,” said Bushwick’s city councilman Rafael Espinal.

“The problem is so alarming that if we don’t change our consumption and disposal habits, there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean by 2050.”

The proposed laws, introduced by Espinal, Councilman Ben Kallos and Councilman Costa Constantinides, would ban water bottles in city parks and concession stands in favor of reusable materials.

Espinal is also introducing a second bill that would ban plastic bottle sales at city parks and beaches.

The new legislation comes in response to Trump’s controversial repeal in 2017 of the Obama-era policy that asked national parks to cut back on water bottle sales.

Acting National Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds said of the repeal in 2017, “Ultimately it should be up to our visitors to decide how best to keep themselves and their families hydrated during a visit to a national park."

Researchers estimate that one million plastic bottles are bought every minute and about 13 million tons of plastic leak into the ocean to be eaten by sea creatures — which means seafood eaters could be ingesting about 11,000 tiny bits of plastic every year.

“Trump may try to destroy the environment at our national parks,” responded Councilman Kallos in a statement on Monday. “But we can force President Trump to do his part to protect our environment right here in New York City.”

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