I don’t know at this point in the day what — if any — decision has been made by the Oregon House on SB 707, which would add water bottles to the deposit system currently in place for beer and soda cans and bottles, but I hope it passes. I have to admit I’m appalled at the tactics of a group calling itself “Oregonians for Real Recycling”, which is casting the deposit proposal as “a tax on products like bottled water!” (their exclamation point) and calling it the “water bottle tax” bill. It’s not a tax. And any attempt to portray it as such is likely a first step in an attempt to roll back the Bottle Bill by claiming it, too, is a tax.
Really, this is just blatantly deceptive advertising. And I’ve gotten four of their emails in the past day.
And as for the “Oregonians”, the supporters include Anheuser-Busch, Coors Brewing Company, 7-Eleven, Albertson’s, Safeway, Winco, and the American Beverage Association.