RustyBattleship

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has made his share of headlines: in 2004, he ordered the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and he's been outspoken about homelessness, immigration and health care. Now Newsom has a new crusade: bottled water.
Last week, the mayor signed an executive order banning the use of city funds for the purchase of single-serving water bottles, and also banned the sale of bottled water on city-owned property. It's all part of the city's effort to become more environmentally friendly and less wasteful, and residents who sign an online pledge not to buy bottled water can get a free stainless steel water bottle. The city also recently outlawed the use of plastic grocery bags.

In an interview with Newsweek, Newsom said: "These people are making huge amounts of money selling God's natural resources. Sorry, we're not going to be part of it. Our water in San Francisco comes from the Hetch Hetchy [reservoir] and is some of the most pristine water on the planet. Our water is arguably cleaner than a vast majority of the bottled water sold as 'pure.' "

While there are no major public companies that sell only bottled water, companies like The Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) could be adversely effected if the anti-bottled water trend catches on nationally. Coke and Pepsi own Dasani and Aquafina, respectively.

The crazy thing about this is that there are plans to REMOVE the dam that created the Hetch Hetchy reservoir and return part of it to its pristine environment like John Muir wanted.

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Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

Ray

Yeah, it is God given!

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"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

dalem

Mayor Jagoff is at it again I see.

-dale

ArmchairGeneral

Yeah, city water is wonderfully pure. It also happens to taste nasty, unless you just love that chlorine zest. Not to mention that sometimes you simply don't have access to a faucet or water fountain. I've never bought the stuff in my life, seems like a waste of money, but it ain't a waste of money to the people buying it.

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"Apocalyptic thought is curiously pleasurable."
-Theodore Dalrymple

gunnut

I love the liberals on their social engineering crusade.

We're just too stupid to make any type of responsible choices ourselves so the government will do it for us.

I don't drink water. If I do, I drink tap water that goes through a Brita filter. I refuse to buy bottled water. I occassionally take one from a friend or parent's stash where they buy in bulk just because I'm too lazy to find a paper cup to take water to go.

I swear never to go to Gay Bay if I can possibly help it. Now, if I do, I will make sure I bring bottled water in bulk into the city and bring one wherever I go.

FVCK SF!

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dalem

I think Newsom is an example of a new subspecies of human: Homo sapiens hysterivaginalensus.

We have beheld the future of humanity, and they are dickweeds.

-dale

Ray

The Mayor is also God given!

Debbie

Having been to the fine city of homelessness and pigeons a few weeks ago, I actually found the city water alot better tasting than St. Paul water. Drank from the tap, drank bottled too. Not much difference although my pallete perhaps is not all that refined.

Jay

When I used to live in Bay area, I drank municipal water thro Brita. It was way better than the tasteless bottled water. But the Mayor is way too far. The market should rule the supply and demand, not the Mayor.

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JAD_333

If he can ban bottled water sales, he can ban damn near anything. When this comes to court, he'll lose. If the city has to pay the legal bill, he may end up an ex-mayor. But I agree that bottled water is basically a rip off. Brita works just fine.

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Ray

I thought it was universally thought that only the British were eccentric!

ArmchairGeneral

Note that the ordinance only affects city funding and city property. Bottled water will still be available, just not at the police station, courthouse, etc. I doubt that the courts would knock it down.

JAD_333

hair trigger...thanks for the course correction.

Jay

Didnt some school districts ban soda vending machines in the campus? And what about the trans fat ban in NYC?

GVChamp

San Francisco needs one of those warning labels slapped on it

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"The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck