Patrick Moore Calls California PVC Packaging Bill ‘Wrong-Headed’

ARLINGTON, Va., June 17, 2008 – Dr. Patrick Moore, chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies, said yesterday in a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle that California legislation AB 2505, which would ban certain types of PVC packaging, is a “wrong-headed approach” that “lacks any basis in science.” 

Moore, a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace, said he has been working on sustainability issues for almost 40 years and considers PVC to be “one of the most sustainable, versatile and cost-effective materials available.” 

He added, “While my former Greenpeace colleagues have made the indefensible decision to attack PVC and have promoted bans such as this one, the material has been used safely and reliably for decades in packaging and products, including many regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission and European Union.”

Moore outlined the many benefits of PVC/vinyl, including its use in pipe for safe drinking water, as insulation for electrical wiring, and in floors and wallcoverings in hospitals.  He also pointed out PVC’s durability and cost-effectiveness as siding and that building with PVC saves energy and material costs.

“California legislators must recognize, at least to some extent, the negative implications of a ban on PVC, because they have already exempted a host of products, including packaging for medications, medical devices and bottles for petroleum products such as lighter fluid and auto treatments,” Moore said, and added, “If PVC is safe for medication packaging, then its safe for other uses.”

Moore ended his letter by saying, “Clearly, the ban is being drive by an extremist political agenda that has little to do with science or sustainability.”

The Vinyl Institute has sent letters to the vinyl network urging action in defeating AB 2505, which was passed recently in the State Assembly and is now being considered by the State Senate.  PVC companies with business operations in California have an easy way to generate letters to senators through a Stop-AB2505 website.  Go to www.capitolconnect.com/caab2505/.

For more information about vinyl, please visit, www.vinylinfo.org and www.vinylindesign.com.