A dozen years after Coca Cola reportedly was behind the National Park Service delay in banning disposable water bottles at Grand Canyon National Park, the agency again is dragging its feet on implementing a plastics ban, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
According to the nonprofit organization, the Park Service’s plan is “is weaker than any proposed by Interior Department agencies and would not produce visible progress until late this decade.”
In June 2022, the White House announced that the Interior Department would reduce and eventually phase out the sale of single-use plastic products in national parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands. The news came after more than 300 organizations and nearly 70,000 individuals called on Interior to take action.
“The Park Service’s plan is a disappointing ‘plan to plan’ without any near-term steps for meaningful plastic reduction,” Rocky Mountain PEER Director Chandra Rosenthal said Tuesday. “This plan is strong on time-consuming bureaucracy and short on any concrete actions.”