Why Banning Fur Will Hurt the Environment
Originally published in The Bakersfield Californian by Will Coggin on June 15, 2019:
California is moving forward with some of the most sweeping anti-pollution legislation to date. On the heels of banning plastic straws, a bill recently passed the Assembly that would ban lodging establishments from supplying guests with small plastic bottles for shampoo and other products unless they ask for them.
Clearly, the Golden State has made being a clean state a priority. So why did the Assembly just pass a bill that would likely increase plastic pollution?
Hot on the heels of local fur bans passed in Los Angeles and San Francisco, fury over fur has arrived in Sacramento. Animal activists including PETA and Berkeley-based Direct Action Everywhere are pushing for the statewide fur ban, known as AB 44. These activists, who are also against wool and leather, demand people wear fake fur instead of the natural kind.
But Californians who care about the environment should know a dirty little secret these activists won’t tell you: fake fur pollutes.
