California: Legislate First, Then Look at the Science

2012: Photo of an Indian beach (coastalcare.org)

A decade ago some scientists were raising the alarm about microplastics. In the intervening years, one would have thought, incorrectly, that there would be at least partial answers to these basic questions:

1) How harmful are environmental plastics to human and animal health?
2) What is the extent of the problem?
3) What is the cost of remedy?

But scant scientific progress hasn't stopped California legislators from considering laws to stop microplastics from entering the oceans: [bold added]

California is set to become the first state, and maybe the first place in the world, to try to limit microplastics at sea...

But there’s a problem with regulating this pollutant. Only so much is known about it — how it gets to the sea and to what extent it’s there. Also, standards for collecting and measuring microplastics are just emerging, and what level of the material may be safe to tolerate is still unclear.

“We can’t sit around and wait for the science,” said Mark Gold, executive director of the Ocean Protection Council, noting the scale of plastic pollution. “There’s a lot of things we can do in the interim.”

Banning plastic grocery bags in 2007 didn't work out, so let's redouble our efforts.

By the way, legislating before all the science was in can make matters worse. Two major examples:

1) requiring MTBE to be added to gasoline for fuel efficiency, then finding out that it poisoned the water supply;
2) banning incandescent bulbs, thereby forcing the purchase of CFLs that poisoned people with mercury when they broke.

When you live in a one-party State, lawmakers don't suffer the consequences of rushed legislation.