[greenyes] Results of Opinion Poll in NY Released

["Pat Franklin" <pfranklin@no.address>]

A statewide opinion poll conducted in New York during the last two weeks of
January 2004 was commissioned by Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY)
and developed in conjunction with the Container Recycling Institute (CRI),
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the New York Public
Interest Research Group (NRDC).

Some of results include the following:
* 84% of New Yorkers polled support the current bottle bill
* 70% of respondents support expansion of the bottle bill to non-carbonated
beverages
* 86% of those polled support transferring unclaimed deposits from
distributors to state government to fund environmental programs

The results were released at a press conference in Albany yesterday
(Thursday, Feb 12th).  The press release is in body of email and is also
attached.  The url to the report is:
http://www.container-recycling.org/assets/pdfs/nyBBsurveyFeb2004.pdf

The folks at CRI, EA, NRDC, NYPIRG, and of course Public Policy Associates,
the firm that conducted the poll, have been working very hard to get this
report completed and released on a very short timeframe in order to have an
impact on the State Legislature early in the year's budget deliberations.
We are extremely pleased with the results of this poll and think it will
help move our agenda forward.
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			Container Recycling Institute
			Environmental Advocates of New York
			Natural Resources Defense Council
			New York Public Interest Research Group

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: 			Contact:
Feb. 12, 2004, 11:00 a.m.		Laura Haight, NYPIRG, 518-436-0876, x258
						David Higby, EANY, 518-462-5526, x239
						Mark Izeman, NRDC, 212-727-4453
						Pat Franklin, CRI, 703-276-9800
						Jeffrey Padden, PPA, 517-485-4477

NEW POLL SHOWS STRONG SUPPORT FOR NY'S BOTTLE BILL AND PROPOSED REFORMS

(Albany)  Advocates for expanding New York's beverage container deposit law
(known as the "bottle bill") today released the results of a poll of New
York voters' attitudes toward the bottle bill and proposed reforms.

The telephone survey of 800 randomly sampled registered voters in New York
State was conducted in January by Public Policy Associates, a national
research firm based in Lansing, Michigan.  The survey has a margin of error
of (+/-) 3.5 %.

The poll was designed to gauge public response to reforms proposed in the
"Bigger, Better Bottle Bill," A.3922-A/S.1696-A, sponsored by Assemblyman
Thomas P. DiNapoli and Senator Kenneth LaValle.

The poll's key findings included:

·	84% of New York voters support the current bottle-deposit law;
·	70% support expanding the law to include non-carbonated beverages (such as
bottled water, juice, sports drinks and iced tea); and,
·	86% support the state taking back the unclaimed deposits from the beverage
industry to fund environmental programs.

"Support for these measures is robust across all the measured subgroups,"
said Jeffrey D. Padden, president of Public Policy Associates.  "Women and
men, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, young and old, people of all
races, ethnic backgrounds, and income levels, from across the state,
strongly support the current law and these proposed reforms."

The poll was commissioned by Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY) and
developed in conjunction with the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the New York Public Interest
Research Group (NRDC).

 "The strong public response to these reforms exceeded our expectations,"
said David Higby, EANY's solid waste projector director.  "New Yorkers
understand that the bottle bill benefits our environment and has made our
state cleaner."

"New Yorkers have sent a Valentine's message to our state law-makers," said
Laura Haight, senior environmental associate with NYPIRG.  "New Yorkers love
the bottle bill, and they support making it bigger and better."

"Bottle bills have historically enjoyed widespread public support," said Pat
Franklin, executive director of CRI and a nationally renowned expert on
container deposit laws.  "This poll confirms that, what holds true in other
states, holds true for New York as well."

"With state and local governments facing huge funding gaps, law-makers would
be remiss to overlook the revenue from taking back unclaimed deposits," said
Mark Izeman, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"This poll shows there is overwhelming public support for this reform, which
would generate nearly $180 million a year for environmental programs in New
York."

Other findings include:

·	78% of those surveyed agree that the bottle bill has made New York
cleaner, and 81% agree that curbside recycling is "not enough" and that we
need the bottle-deposit program to control litter;
·	only 19% of New Yorkers know that the beverage industry keeps the
unclaimed deposits when bottles and cans are not returned; 29% think the
stores that sell these beverages keep the unclaimed deposits and 23% think
the money already goes to the state;
·	62% of New Yorkers believe that we are spending "too little" on protecting
the environment, consistent with national polling data;
·	nearly half the respondents (48%) said that a candidate's position on the
bottle bill reforms would be important to their vote, and of those, most
were people who support these reforms;
·	When asked to describe the benefits of the bottle bill in their own words,
people most frequently mentioned environmental benefits (36%), litter
control (24%), and recycling and reducing waste (17%).

More than 350 groups, local governments and businesses have endorsed the
"Bigger, Better Bottle Bill," which would expand New York's existing law to
include non-carbonated beverages and would require the beverage industry to
turn over unclaimed deposits to the State Environmental Protection Fund to
support recycling and environmental programs.

According to CRI's estimates, the "Bigger, Better Bottle Bill" would capture
up to 2.6 billion additional bottles and cans a year, and the unclaimed
deposits would provide more than $179 million a year to fund environmental
programs.  Advocates are calling on the Assembly, Senate and Governor to
adopt these reforms this year.

The full report is available on-line at:
www.eany.org
www.nypirg.org
www.container-recycling.org
www.publicpolicy.com

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Patricia Franklin
Executive Director
Container Recycling Institute
1911 N. Fort Myer Drive, Ste. 702
Arlington, VA 22209

TEL:   703.276.9800
FAX:   703.276.9587
EMAIL: pfranklin@no.address

http://www.container-recycling.org
http://www.bottlebill.info
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