S.19.4-3: The Southern Environmental Act (Statute)

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

There are many good points in this bill put forward by the Honorable Delegate from North Carolina, West_Midlander. However there are a couple of points in this well intentioned bill to which I think warrant some discussion.

Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic straws, plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.

Does this mean that flights made by Southern Government Workers won't be able to fly on aircraft that have plastic utensils? In my experience pretty much all airlines use plastic utensils. What are they supposed to use for a knife to cut with? Aren't there rules about metal objects on planes? Does this mean no one on the payroll of the Southern Government will be allowed to fly?

Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting a lowered consumption of meat, especially beef, lamb, and other red meats.

Is this chamber going to turn into the food police? Meat is an essential part of a healthy diet. Vegetarians can quite easily suffer from iron deficiency. A case could just as easily be made for the promotion of eating meat. Some of the great dishes of the South are meat based. "I'm Sorry Timmy but you shouldn't enjoy that rack of ribs it's causing too much farting"

As can be seen below, there are 558m tons of methane produced globally. 188m tons of which come from from agriculture and waste. Almost all of the total methane is offset by natural sinks. As seen below.

Source: Global Carbon Project - via medium.com

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.
- Whereas the large-scale consumption of meat, especially red meats such as beef and lamb, contributes to the methane emission crisis as well as to negative health effects in humans such as an increased amount of carcinogens and worsening heart health.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting a lowered consumption of meat, especially beef, lamb, and other red meats.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) Each state’s Department of Health and Human Services or equivalent shall work with that state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent to compile information citing health and environmental benefits as a result of consuming less meat for use in the aforementioned advertisements.
Section IV) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section V) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article II shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section VI) Article II shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article III
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article IV
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic straws, plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article IV shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section III) Article IV shall take effect on May 1, 2020.

Striking the portions in red
Adding the portions in blue
Replacing the II with a III marked in purple

24 hours for objections. If there are no objections this will be the official version of the bill.

I will accept proxies in favor of the amendments, in the event of an objection.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Mr. Deputy Speaker: I accidentally left in one extra space upon striking those words and the same upon striking a word from the transport bill (in the middle of a sentence in my most recent suggestion to amend it). Do we have to go through the amendment process or is the removal of the space (in each of the two instances) not required to be done by amendment?

I am sure that the collective wisdom of the chamber, acting in good faith wont object to editing out a typo, specifically an extra space being deleted. I'll suspend the standing orders in this instance for the accommodation of common sense. Unless someone objects to common sense. In which case they might be in the need of some greater help.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Article II, Section I is a campaign solely to provide dietary suggestions to the Southern people based on evidence, similar to how the Atlasian Department of Agriculture does (USDA IRL) at the federal level. The suggestion of Section I is a reduction in the consumption of meat. Certainly, a reduced (not eliminated) consumption of meat is possible for most people, including a diet of some meat substitutes. I'm sure Timmy can enjoy his rack of ribs, perhaps just a little less often than before, and only if he so chooses to have it less often. Perhaps Timmy can fix himself a Carolina Dog with a veggie dog as opposed to the real thing, maybe half the time?

Furthermore, sufficient iron and protein can be provided by non-meats, among them spinach, beans, legumes, almonds and other nuts, pumpkin seeds and other seeds, quinoa, broccoli, tofu, dark chocolate, and a lot more. Some list items from the source below were meats but certainly if one eats a sufficient amount of a few types of iron-rich foods one doesn't need to eat all eleven regularly.

11 Healthy Foods That Are Very High in Iron

Some of the great dishes of the South are meat based.
...
Vegetarians can quite easily suffer from iron deficiency.

I will elaborate on the latter first. I know from first hand experience that most vegetarians don't get enough iron into their system. A fact that my formerly vegetarian sister openly admits. A vegetarian needs to be over zealous on their iron intake to be able to get a supposedly adequate iron intake from non meat sources. So by the same token that you are advocating against the eating of meat one should also promote the eating of meat. Maybe vegetarians need to become part time omnivores to ensure that they don't suffer from iron deficiency. This further empathizes my point in the gubernatorial debate that home economics is a part of the fight against malnutrition. Just because someone is overweight doesn't mean they aren't malnourished.

On my first point in the above. I find it difficult to believe the average Southerner will take kindly to being told by the government to not eat a culturally significant staple of the average Southerners diet. Not only is it unpatriotic but also potentially unhealthy. I support a balance diet. Meat and veg! My main staple is meat and two Veg!

Edit: All things in moderation including moderation

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Objection, as I like this amendment discussed.

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.
- Whereas the large-scale consumption of meat, especially red meats such as beef and lamb, contributes to the methane emission crisis as well as to negative health effects in humans such as an increased amount of carcinogens and worsening heart health.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting a lowered consumption of meat, especially beef, lamb, and other red meats.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) Each state’s Department of Health and Human Services or equivalent shall work with that state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent to compile information citing health and environmental benefits as a result of consuming less meat for use in the aforementioned advertisements.
Section IV) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section V) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article II shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section VI) Article II shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article III
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article IVII
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article IVII shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on May 1, 2020.

Striking the portions in red
Amending the portions in blue
I would happily Support the bill with the above amendments.


So the amended version would read as:

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article II shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article III
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article III shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on May 1, 2020.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

I'll second this amendment.

If there are no objections after 24 hours the following will become the working version of the bill.

So the amended version would read as:

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article II shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article III
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article III shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on May 1, 2020.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

I motion for a final vote

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

As there have been no objections, voting in now open on S.19.4-3: The Southern Environmental Act. Voting will last for 48 hours or until all delegates have voted.
Sound the bells (delegates will be DM'd)

Text of the bill reads as follows:

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article II shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article III
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article III shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on May 1, 2020.

Voting Options are:
[   ] Aye
[   ] Nay
[   ] Abstain

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

[ x ] Aye
[   ] Nay
[   ] Abstain

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Voting in Closed


S.19.4-3: The Southern Environmental Act passes.

Vote Tally S.19.4-3
[ 3 ] Aye
[ 1 ] Nay
[ 0 ] Abstain
[ 1 ] Absent  (TimTurner)


The Bill now awaits the governors Signature:

- Whereas human activity has a major impact on climate change.
- Whereas increasing global temperatures will lead to severe environmental deterioration, habitat destruction for animals, and a decrease in the quality of life for humans in coastal areas.
- Whereas non-renewables such as plastics emit harmful gases into the atmosphere upon burning.
- Whereas considerable amounts of recyclables are burned, end up in landfills, or are sent to other countries to the same effect.

Be it resolved that:

Article I
Section I) One million dollars shall be dispensed to the states of the Southern region, according to the population of each, for the creation and broadcast of advertisements promoting recycling.
Section II) The funds for this program shall be allocated to each Southern state’s Department of Environmental Quality or equivalent.
Section III) The method of advertisement shall include but shall not be limited to television advertisements, billboard advertisements, radio advertisements, and so on.
Section IV) Upon the exhaustion of the aforementioned funds, Article I shall be null and void unless a law is passed renewing the fund in the same or a different amount.
Section V) Article I shall take effect, with funds dispensed to the states, on December 1, 2019.

Article II
Section I) The Southern region shall not dispose of recyclable material by means of burning, disposal in landfills, or shipment to other regions or countries for the purpose of burning or disposal in landfills.
Section II) Article II shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

Article III
Section I) The government of the Southern region shall end public contracts with corporations that continue to use plastic (including styrofoam) disposables, among them plastic cups, plastic bowls, plastic plates, styrofoam boxes, styrofoam trays, styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils.
Section II) Section I of Article III shall expressly exclude plastic straws from this legislation.
Section II) Article III shall take effect on May 1, 2020.