It's good the supes passed that ban. Plastic is evil stuff for the most part due to the quantities of plastic that humans generate (as that pic of the turtle eating the plastic bag shows).

Now the Supes need to stop (Rec & Park General Manager) Phil Ginsberg's plan to put over 300 tons of ground-up tire particles in GG Park where the Beach Chalet soccer fields are (the largest grass field in GGP after the Polo Fields).

Those very small toxic tire particles are going to spread all into the trees and bushes and soil surrounding the field due to the winds and rains there - and once it's there, it can never be recovered.

Those tire particles are little balls of hard oil and thus contain lots of cancer-causing substances found in oil. That toxic crap - over 300 hundred tons worth (2 - 3 lbs per square foot mutliplied by 7 acres) - does not belong in GG Park.

Another thing that doesn't belong there are stadium lights on 60 foot high poles (more appropriate for AT&T Park) that will shine brightly until 10 or 11 pm every night - part of the same grand idea first pushed by the late Republican billionaire Donald Fisher and now being pushed by Fisher's three sons ("City Fields Foundation") and R&P's Phil Ginsberg.

The draft EIR for this idiotic idea was finished a few months ago by the SF Planning Dept. They took comments at a public hearing in November and are now responding in writing to those comments in the final EIR (probably be done in a month or so).

If they vote to approve it, it will then go to the Supes who can either approve or reject the EIR. We must tell the Supes to reject it so this idiotic plan to ruin GG Park can be killed for good.

The supes should reject the EIR because it 1) ignores the toxic nature of the 300 tons of ground-up tires in GG Park, 2) ignores the fact that this project repeatedly and blatantly violates the Golden Gate Park Master Plan (an extensive planning document for GG Park that was finished in 1998 after 10 years of hard work by citizen groups and Rec & Park).

http://sfrecpark.org/GGPMasterPlan.aspx

3) ignores the anti-environmental nature of removing 7 acres of natural LIVING grass in Golden Gate Park so 7 acres of DEAD plastic artificial turf can replace it with 300 tons of tire particles, 4) ignores the fact that having stadium lights in GG Park shining brightly until 10 or 11 pm every night is a major disruption to the eco-system the birds and other wildlife rely on (as is the 300 tons of tire particles).

I could go on but that's just a few of the many reasons the supes should reject the EIR for this idiotic idea of the late rightwing Republican Donald Fisher (who was also a big financial backer of GWB - the worst prez this country's had in a long time - as well as other national Republican politicians).

There's a certain symmetry in having the late Donald Fisher be the origin of this terrible idea: first he was a big financial backer of GWB and Dick Cheney - the two greatest friends the oil industry ever had in the White House, second Fisher's plan calls for putting over 300 hundred tons of an oil product in Golden Gate Park.

The oil industry would be proud of the late Donald Fisher for his effort in filling GGP with their product.

Tell the supes 1) to reject the EIR they'll for the reasons I stated, and 2) tell them you don't want Golden Gate Park - San Francisco's crown jewel - ruined so that Phil Ginsberg can satisfy the wishes of the late Donald Fisher and his three living billionaire sons ("The City Fields Foundation").

GG Park belongs to you and the ppl of San Francisco. Phil Ginsberg or Donald Fisher's heirs don't own it any more than you do.

Here's the contact info for the supes (the most important supe to contact is Sup. Eric Mar of the Richmond District since his district is next to the park - he won't say whether he's for it or against it so he needs to hear from you (especially if you live in the Richmond District); the second most important supe to contact is Sup. Carmen Chu of the Sunset District which is also next to the park, of course it would be best if you can contact all of them since all of them will be voting on the EIR):

Sup. Eric Mar Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org 554-7410
Sup. Carmen Chu Carmen.Chu@sfgov.org 554-7460

Sup. Mark Farrell Mark.Farrell@sfgov.org 554-7752
Sup. David Chiu David.Chiu@sfgov.org 554-7450
Sup. Jane Kim Jane.Kim@sfgov.org 554-7970
Sup. Sean Elsbernd Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org 554-6516
Sup. Scott Weiner Scott.Wiener@sfgov.org 554-6968
Sup. David Campos David.Campos@sfgov.org 554-5144
Sup. Malia Cohen Malia.Cohen@sfgov.org 554-7670
Sup. John Avalos John.Avalos@sfgov.org 554-6975
Sup. Christina Olague call 554-5184, the Clerk of the Bd for her number and / or email address

The move by the supes to get rid of plastic bags is excellent. But it would be a shame if that good move was more than offset by them approving an EIR that will be a disaster and major catastrophe for Golden Gate Park and the birds and wildllife that rely on it and the San Franciscans that treasure it as a place of LIVING nature and not one with 7 acres of DEAD plastic.

Contact Sup. Eric Mar now if you can (554-7410) - tell him no 7 acres of artificial turf at the Beach Chalet soccer fields in Golden Gate Park and to reject the EIR.

The wildlife of Golden Gate Park thanks you.

give me hint

We agree with the earlier comment regarding the Beach Chalet soccer complex. This project does not belong in Golden Gate Park. We have been fighting this project and working for a Compromise Alternative for over two years. Please go to our website for more information.

That's funny, because I live in San Francisco and still have plastic bags pushed on me on practically a daily basis, even when I say I don't need one. Maybe the law doesn't pertain to restaurants? Convenience stores try to hand out plastic bags as well. So do dumpy stores like H&M.

Even worse is Chinatown, with its ubiquitous pink plastic bags. They're everywhere. SF comes up with "laws" that may just yield bragging rights but are seldom, if ever, enforced.