PHOENIX — An Arizona legislator wants to make it illegal to release balloons into the atmosphere “for any reason,” including any promotional activity or product advertisement.
Rep. Mitzi Epstein, a Tempe Democrat, said her proposal would not apply, however, to the accidental release of five or fewer balloons.
She cited statistics saying that about 29 percent of birds in the United States and Canada — about 3 billion in all — have disappeared in the last half century.
“It is more than just balloons” causing that, Epstein noted.
But balloons are “the most lethal kind of pollution for birds and for every other kind of wildlife out there,” she said.
Doris Pedersen of Liberty Wildlife, a group involved in conservation and helping injured animals, agreed.
“The wildlife actually eat them,” Pedersen said of balloons and their residue. “It gets in their system and blocks their system.”
She said waterfowl mistake what’s left of shiny Mylar balloons for jellyfish.
Epstein said the idea behind her proposed legislation came from a local Girl Scout troop, whose members were learning about pollution and wanted to do something about it. Many of the Scouts were at a Capitol news conference Wednesday to draw attention to the issue.
But House Majority Leader Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, called the proposal “government gone wild.”
“I will certainly oppose any legislation that penalizes children for releasing balloons into the air,” he said.
Epstein failed to get a hearing on a similar measure two years ago. But she said this one is different in a key way: There would be no financial penalty for offenders; local governments would solely be permitted to impose a penalty of community service picking up litter.
She said the bill, HB 2339, isn’t so much about enforcement as it is about publicizing the danger of balloons.
“It’s a reminder to everybody that litter really does harm wildlife,” Epstein said.
