LETTER: We need the ability to manage plastic

Plastic bags are Pennsylvania’s tumbleweed. Rolling past me on every walk I go on, plastic bags consume our state’s beautiful parks and cities. It’s no surprise that plastic is harmful to our environment and our health. Humans consume, on average, up to a credit card’s worth of plastic per week, so why are state legislators weakening restrictions on plastic?
The state Legislature passed an indefinite extension on preemption, which prohibits municipalities from banning or taxing single-use plastics. Preemption steals freedom from local governments, giving the state the final say while local governing bodies clean up the resulting waste. The consequences of this extension are detrimental to the environment, humans, and our local government.
I hope my hometown of Burgettstown and other municipalities across the state demand the right to manage plastic in their region.
Maylyn Torpey
Burgettstowns