Date: 3/1/26 5:25 am From: mdpethke via groups.io <mdpethke...> Subject: [labird] Bill to ban balloon releases filed in the Louisiana House of Representatives
The balloon ban bill is back! Rep. John Illg has filed HB851, which prohibits the intentional outdoor release of lighter than air balloons by persons over the age of sixteen unless the release is for a valid scientific or educational purpose, is a weather balloon, or is a hot air balloon that is recovered after launch, and provides civil penalties in the form of a fine for violators. HB 851 contains the same language as the bill passed last year but vetoed by Governor Landry. Rep. Illg has reportedly received an assurance from Governor Landry that he will not veto the bill this year if it passes.
Balloon releases are a particularly egregious form of litter because what goes up must eventually come down, with catastrophic consequences for birds, fish, and other wildlife. Richard Condrey, Baton Rouge Audubon Society conservation chair, has been active for many years trying to address this issue, and BRAS supports this initiative. The bill is backed by the Lt. Governor's office, and the Louisiana Wildlife Federation is also backing the bill and monitoring its progress. The fact that last year's bill finally passed the house 98-0 and the senate 33-1 means nothing--it is a good start, but this is a brand new year.
If you wish to contact your legislator to support this critical piece of pro-wildlife, anti-pollution legislation, here are a few pertinent facts you may wish to share in your email, letter, or phone call:
1. Balloons negatively impact the environment by littering lakes, streams, and beaches. It is basically the same as intentionally throwing trash into the ocean or the ground.
2. Even balloons marketed as biodegradable or eco-friendly can still take years to disintegrate. This means that they are not better for the environment than standard balloons.
3. When balloons make their way into the water, their floating pieces and tattered ends can resemble jellyfish or other sea life that is consumed by marine animals like fish, sea turtles, and dolphins. When the pieces of latex or Mylar are mistaken for food and are ingested, they can get lodged in the digestive tract, inhibiting the animal's ability to eat, and it can cause a slow and painful death by starvation.
4. Wildlife can also fall victim to balloons and its strings when the pieces fall to the ground or onto bushes and trees. Birds have been found injured with ribbons wrapped around their wings or beaks, and have strangled themselves when they become entangled in strings that are attached to power lines and trees. And just like marine animals, they can succumb to a painful death after ingesting balloons.
5. Entergy Louisiana has raised alarms about Mylar balloons, which are metallic and can cause dangerous electrical surges or outages when they contact power lines or transformers. A high-profile outage occurred in New Orleans in August 2024, when a Mylar balloon caused a power flicker at a water treatment plant, leading to a boil water advisory for nearly 370,000 residents.
6. The negative impact on animals and the environment prompted the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and local chapters of the National Audubon Society to urge people to stop releasing balloons and instead find alternatives that are more humane and those that are safer for animals and the planet.
7. It is currently illegal to release balloons in California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland. Several cities in the U.S and abroad have also passed laws regarding mass balloon releases after years of witnessing their effects.
