When State Senator Jack Scott proposed a ban on foil balloons, he added the proposal that the state fund a UC study on potential alternative materials for manufacturing balloons. That did not go over well with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who suggested that given its $20 billion deficit, California might find more productive ways to spend what little money it doesn’t have.
But the balloon debate in California is far from over, even though this is the state that brought us the movie Up. Sarah Childers was concerned when she saw about twenty helium balloons floating off over the Pacific this Easter. She worries how they might affect sea life. She is not the only one. Michelle Hohensee of Save Our Shores says that, “They look like little pieces of food,” and adds that balloon litter is going up dramatically in Santa Cruz.
Childers and Hohensee still have to contend with some powerful forces. Take the Balloon Lobby for example—yes, there is such a thing. They’ve spent over $190,000 on congressional lobbying over the past two years alone. As it turns out, balloons are big business—they bring in $80 million in sales tax revenue in California alone.
In Britain, people are looking for fun and exciting alternatives for balloons—anything but letting them fly. Alternatives include guessing how many balloons are in a car or popping them. As the parent of any young child will tell you, that’s bound to evoke a rush of emotions.
Yet Childers and Hohensee continue on their crusade to raise awareness of the dangers of balloons, and to prove Winnie the Pooh wrong when he said, “Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.” Apparently some people can. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
