With his poll numbers still plummeting, Paterson has been popping out an array of proposals in the past couple weeks to win back political friends who could help his election chances next year. This time, it was environmental activists.
“Bottled water, while the water may be pure, is no friend of the environmental community,” Paterson told a group of environmentalists near the Capitol. “Its manufacture, its transport, its storage, its chilling, everything that has to do with it is environmentally unfriendly.”
The ban applies to single-serve water bottles, which environmentalists have targeted for elimination across the country. Not affected, though, are state agencies outside the executive branch, such as the judiciary, the state university system and the Legislature.
“This executive order can and will be a model to other cities, states and federal agencies that are looking to cut budgetary pork, reduce their environmental footprint, and send a strong message about the importance of investing in strong public water systems for a long time to come,” said Kelle Louailler, executive director of Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based advocacy group that earlier this year called on states to stop buying bottled water. New York is the first state to respond with a ban.
Source: The Buffalo News
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