FREE
Consumer groups slam California Supreme Court ruling on lemon law
Ex-OC Supervisor Andrew Do pleads guilty to bribery charge
PG 08
PG 28
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 04- NOVEMBER 10, 2024
Schiff, Garvey square off in race for Feinstein’s Senate seat
Los Angeles County sues Coca-Cola, Pepsi over plastics
By City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com
By Joe Taglieri
L
Steve Garvey, left, and Adam Schiff. | Photos courtesy of Steve Garvey for U.S. Senate and Adam Schiff/Facebook
D
NO. 196
VOL. 13,
emocratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican former Dodger Steve Garvey will square off Tuesday in the battle to claim the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Dianne Feinstein. Schiff is considered a heavy favorite to win the seat in Democrat-heavy California, although both he and Garvey each earned about one-third of the vote during the March primary election. Both candidates actually appear twice on the ballot — once in the race to fill out the remainder of Feinstein’s term, which ends in January, and again in the race for another six-year term. When Feinstein died in September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed former Emily’s List President Laphonza Butler to serve out most of the remainder of her term in the Senate, until someone else is elected. Butler decided not to run for the seat. Schiff, 64, has run his campaign on a platform of protecting democracy. He has been ridiculed by Donald
Trump for his criticism of the former president from various posts: as Trump impeachment manager in 2020, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. “We’re in the fight of our lives for the future of our country,” Schiff said in a statement when he launched his campaign. “Our democracy is under assault from MAGA extremists, who care only about gaining power and keeping it. And our economy is simply not working for millions of Americans, who are working harder than ever just to get by.” In June of last year, Schiff was censured by the Republican-led House on a partyline vote for comments he made during the investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia. Schiff took the censure by Republicans as a badge of honor. “For the first time in generations, our country and its citizens are seeing their rights and freedoms recede,
not expand,” Schiff said on his campaign’s website. “From abortion and reproductive care to LGBTQ equality and the ability to vote — all of these inherent rights are under assault. We need to preserve and protect our rights and freedoms — and yes, expand them — not take them away, as reactionary MAGA Republicans and a partisan Supreme Court have successfully done over the last few years.” Schiff said he will also tackle the twin crises of housing affordability and homelessness. “We simply do not have enough housing that’s affordable, and because of that, we have seen a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness,” Schiff said. “We need to build hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing each year in California alone, and help those struggling to pay for housing every day.” He added that the government needs to dramatically See Senate Page 27
change how it approaches homelessness, not only to prevent people from ending up on the streets but also to find effective methods of housing them. One of the main components of Schiff’s campaign is his affordability agenda. “California working families are facing an affordability crisis. And we can do something about it,” Schiff said. “Corporations are raising the prices of goods with little oversight and swallowing up their competition. We need federal price gouging rules, better antitrust enforcement, and to drive down the costs of prescription drugs and gas — all while protecting and empowering workers.” Schiff was first elected to Congress in 2000, representing a large swath of the greater Los Angeles area. Previously he served as a California state senator and as an assistant U.S. Attorney. Garvey, 75, faces an uphill battle, as a Republican hasn’t
os Angeles County filed a lawsuit Wednesday against PepsiCo Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co. over the bottling giants’ role in plastics pollution and alleged misrepresentation of plastic recyclability. County officials also contend Pepsi and CocaCola failed to disclose significant harmful impacts to the environment and public health associated with using plastic beverage containers, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in LA County Superior Court, accuses the companies of falsely claiming that plastic containers are recyclable despite knowing that plastics can’t be readily disposed of without pollution. Producing, disposing and recycling plastic create greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental impacts, officials said. “Los Angeles County is committed to reducing the use of plastic and protecting the environment,” Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. “Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing. Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.” William Dermody, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association which represents Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, challenged the county’s assertions. “The allegation that our packaging is not and will not be recycled is simply not true,” Dermody said See Plastics Page 28
Thursday in a statement to the Pasadena Independent. “Driven by the California Redemption Value bottle return and investments by America’s beverage companies, California has one of the highest bottle recycling rates in the country — 71% in 2023. Our bottles are designed to be recycled and remade and can include up to 100% recycled plastic. America’s beverage companies are proud of our leadership in California, and across the country, and will continue our partnership with the Golden State to get every bottle back.” Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own a wide range of beverage brands, including Coke, Pepsi, Dasani, Smartwater, Fanta, Aquafina, Gatorade, 7-Up, Sprite, Vitamin Water and Mountain Dew. A tradeoff for such dominant market share is the two companies have ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for five consecutive years “with no meaningful accountability for their plastic pollution,” according to the lawsuit. The county alleges the companies have largely contributed to plastic pollution’s emergence as a local and global crisis that threatens human health and the environment. “PepsiCo and Coca-Cola engaged in a disinformation campaign to make consumers falsely believe that purchasing their products in single-use plastic bottles is an environmentally responsible choice,” according to a statement from County Counsel Dawyn Harrison’s office. “Because plastic does not biodegrade naturally in the environment, but rather breaks down into smaller fragments and pieces, their