Washington, D.C. \u2013 Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley\u2014a long-time leader and fierce advocate for tackling the plastic pollution crisis across its entire life cycle\u2014released the following statement after the conclusion of the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) in Geneva, Switzerland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cFor plastics, many of us have been taught the three Rs\u2014reduce, reuse, and recycle. But, too often, the reality is the three Bs\u2014plastics get buried, burned, or borne out to sea. Now, due to a small number of plastic-producing countries successfully holding the world back from reaching a strong agreement to tackle the full scale of the plastic pollution crisis, we can add a fourth B: betrayal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe failure to reach an agreement is a devastating blow for public health, as well as our children and the planet\u2019s future. Make no mistake, though, the blame lies squarely with a small handful of petrostates that were determined to ensure that meaningful action would not occur. Under President Trump, America has actively sided with these petrostates, ensuring the world fails to meet this moment. No agreement is better than a weak agreement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis cannot be the end of the global effort to combat plastic pollution. Now that the United Nations process has failed, the nations that want to meet the moment should come together to reach an agreement that meets the scale of the world’s plastic crisis. I will continue to do all I can to champion bold action\u2014in the U.S. and abroad\u2014and I hope that eventually the U.S. will join the majority of the world that is serious about tackling plastic pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Ahead of INC-5.2, Merkley\u00a0teamed up with House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)<\/a>\u00a0to urge the Trump Administration not to impede\u00a0a strong global agreement to tackle plastic pollution. In 2024, he\u00a0attended INC-5<\/a>\u00a0in Busan, South Korea and\u00a0led\u00a0a congressional delegation to INC-4<\/a>\u00a0in Ottawa, Canada to advocate for meaningful standards and commitments to combat the plastic pollution crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As former Chair of the EPW Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, Merkley\u00a0held a first-of-its-kind series of hearings<\/a>\u00a0investigating plastic production and pollution. His hearings examined:\u00a0Da\u00f1os ambientales y clim\u00e1ticos causados por los pl\u00e1sticos.<\/a>,\u00a0Impactos de los pl\u00e1sticos en las comunidades de justicia ambiental.<\/a>,\u00a0sistemas de reutilizaci\u00f3n y recarga<\/a>,\u00a0residuos de envases de bebidas<\/a>, y\u00a0Desaf\u00edos del consumidor para el reciclaje.<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merkley also leads the\u00a0Ley para liberarse de la contaminaci\u00f3n pl\u00e1stica<\/em><\/a>\u2014the most comprehensive plan ever introduced in Congress to address the\u00a0harms of plastic pollution on our air, water, and soil\u2014and two bipartisan plastics-related pieces of legislation: the\u00a0Microplastics Safety Act<\/em><\/a>\u00a0y\u00a0REUSE Act<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, D.C. \u2013 Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley\u2014a long-time leader and fierce advocate for tackling the plastic pollution crisis across its entire life cycle\u2014released the following statement after the conclusion of the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) in Geneva, Switzerland: \u201cFor plastics, many of us have been taught […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":18847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-22917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-plastic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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