Big Soda Freaks Over Local Ordinance

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From: "Mother Jones Econundrums" <do_not_reply@motherjones.com>
Date: Oct 20, 2014 5:37 AM
Subject: Big Soda Freaks Over Local Ordinance
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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]     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]     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
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