California Organization Fights For Community-Based Solutions To Tackle Plastic Pollution

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, August 5, 2025…

• In Geneva, world leaders are back at the table for the latest round of UN negotiations aimed at drafting a first-of-its-kind treaty to tackle plastic pollution. The goal? A legally binding agreement that addresses the entire plastic life cycle, from how it’s produced to how it’s disposed of. But one California group is calling on negotiators not to leave front line communities behind.
• State lawmakers have proposed a bill that would require police officers to disclose when they use generative AI for report writing. Departments across California have started testing or using these tools.
• California Democrats are considering new political maps that could help them pick up as many as five additional House seats in the 2026 mid-term elections. It’s their answer to redistricting moves in Texas that are expected to favor Republicans. But a California Republican congressman wants to put a stop to it all, by banning states from redrawing their maps mid-decade entirely.

California Group Participates In Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations

Azul is an ocean justice organization based in San Diego. The organization works with Latino communities to protect coastal and marine ecosystems.

In Geneva, world leaders this week are back at the table for the latest round of UN negotiations aimed at drafting a first-of-its-kind treaty to tackle plastic pollution. And Azul released its own proposal, advocating for solutions that don’t leave frontline communities behind.

“I think the biggest recommendation is to make sure that we stop talking about this treaty as a waste management situation, as only a marine pollution problem, and that we take a look at the whole cycle of plastics – from its extraction of base materials to its disposal. And that we actually center those communities that are impacted the most,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Azul’s founder and executive director.

California Bill Would Require Police To Disclose Use Of AI In Writing Reports

California lawmakers are advancing a new bill that would require police officers to disclose when they use generative AI to write reports. The measure, which has passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly, is among the first in the country to address law enforcement’s use of AI to produce incident reports. KQED first reported on local departments adopting these tools last October.

Proponents of the bill say it’s critical to understand how police reports are created, given their key role in the criminal justice system.

“From the get, this police report is used to determine whether a criminal case will be started,” said Kate Chatfield, executive director of the California Public Defenders Association, which sponsored the bill. “Then a judge would be reviewing this police report, for example, to determine the circumstances of offense and to determine whether or not to hold somebody in jail.”

The law, introduced by state Sen. Jesse Arreguín, D-7, covers all uses of generative AI for report writing. It would require a disclosure at the bottom of each page of an AI-generated police report, along with preservation of the original draft and an “audit trail” that identifies the bodycam footage or audio from which the report was generated.

California Could Slash 5 GOP House Seats To Counter Texas’ Redistricting Move

California Democrats are considering new political maps that could slash five Republican-held House seats in the state while bolstering Democratic incumbents in other battleground districts. The move comes in direct response to efforts by Texas Republicans to redraw House districts in order to strengthen the GOP hold on the chamber in 2026.

A draft plan that’s circulating aims to boost the Democratic margin to 48 of California’s 52 congressional seats, according to a source familiar with the plan who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. That’s up from the 43 seats the party now holds. It would need approval from lawmakers and voters, who may be skeptical to give it after handing redistricting power to an independent commission years ago.

Meanwhile, California Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley introduced a bill Tuesday that would nullify new political maps adopted by states before the 2030 census.