Monday, October 20, 2014

Big Soda Freaks Over Local Ordinance

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mother Jones Econundrums" <do_not_reply@motherjones.com>
Date: Oct 20, 2014 5:37 AM
Subject: Big Soda Freaks Over Local Ordinance
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

ECONUNDRUMS YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL DILEMMAS SOLVED

 

MOTHER JONES

October 20, 2014

 

THIS WEEK'S ECONUNDRUM

Big Soda Freaks Over Local Ordinance

In a couple of weeks, residents of Berkeley, California, will decide whether or not to place a penny-an-ounce tax on sugary beverages such as sweetened teas and sodas. The beverage industry has fought off similar taxes and restrictions in every American city where they've been proposed, but it has never faced a more formidable challenge than it does in this overwhelmingly liberal and well-educated college town.

To date, beverage companies have poured an astounding $1.7 million into derailing this small-city measure, more than $21 per registered voter. With anti-tax ads flooding local TV and radio broadcasts, newspapers, bus stops, light-rail stations, and residential doorknobs—not to mention all the mailers and handouts from paid canvassers, it can feel like the whole city is under invasion by a propaganda machine.

The soda fight is, if nothing else, a case study in whether truckloads of cash can sway a politically engaged citizenry. So: Do you find the anti-soda-tax ads convincing? To see them for yourself, click here. [READ MORE]

 

Mother Jones

 

MORE ENVIRONMENTAL & HEALTH COVERAGE

How One Man Poured Chemicals Into New Jersey's Drinking Water and Changed Women's Fashion Forever

Steven Johnson traces the unintended consquences of technological innovations. [READ MORE]

Sorry, California. Winter Isn't Going to Fix Your Drought.

A little rain is expected, but not enough to reverse the trend. [READ MORE]

MOST ACTIVE DISCUSSION

Now Congressional Republicans Are Digging Through Scientists' Grant Proposals

An unprecendented investigation of National Science Foundation grants is targeting climate science. [READ MORE]


 

Cornell University Press

 

MORE FROM MOJO

Read the Dr. Bronner's Ad That's Too Hot for Scientific Journals

Science and Nature refused to run the soap company's advertorial, which criticized biotechnology. [READ MORE]

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Become a fan of Econundrums on Facebook.

 

Read the Blue Marble

Cornell University Press

Hi. Thanks for signing up for Mother Jones' Econundrums newsletter. Wait, that was your cat? Smart cat! If you don't want to get Econundrums, or to make changes to your subscription, click here. And lock up the cat.
For advertising opportunities see our online media kit.
MOTHERJONES.COM Mother Jones 222 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94108

Mother Jones


Powered By Blackbaud

No comments: