Second in a series. 

Re: “’Styrene Ban Still a Ways Off”

As Mayor Jim Clarke recited a breathtaking laundry list of details and exemptions to be established before the approved polystyrene ban is introduced to Culver City, the wonder is whether he still will be in office to shepherd through the changes.

Among expected exceptions to the ban are meat and fish trays, for example.

Another exception is food that is prepared and packaged outside of Culver City and brought into a grocery store.

And so there is common sense. There is idealism. There are the slowly cranking wheels of government.

Mr. Clarke has said with increasing frequency that barring polystyrene food containers in an attempt to de-litter the environment is more complicated than anyone in City Hall realized at the beginning.

While Culver City’s ordinance will be modeled after a similar plan in Manhattan Beach, there was cynical criticism of some South Bay community officials for making exceptions to their ban, City Hall finds itself faced with a similar dilemma.

How rigid will standards be?

To what degree will they be policed?

Culver City will go beyond the Manhattan Beach model in an important and controversial area.

“We want to explore recycling of polystyrene,” said Mr. Clarke because certain businesses will continue to use it.

Both the mayor and Councilman Goran Eriksson, moving force on the Council’s Sustainability Subcommittee, are huge fans of recycling.