Styrofoam may seem fleeting. We use it to eat a quick take-out meal, then throw it away. But the stuff is damn near everlasting. When littered, it's carried from the streets to the storm drains to the ocean, making it the second most common type of beach debris in California, according to the Southern California Coastal Water Quality Research Project.

State lawmakers on Monday proposed to outlaw the possession, sale and distribution of shark fins that are used in traditional soup, saying it will help protect the fish from extinction, but opponents called it an attack on Chinese culture.

Democratic Assemblymen Paul Fong of Sunnyvale and Jared Huffman of San Rafael introduced the legislation with support from environmental groups including the  Natural Resources Defense Council.