Despite years of controversy, balloon releases are still popular at events like the upcoming Indianapolis 500 later this month. Today, about a half-dozen states and a handful of cities have laws or ordinances banning mass balloon releases, according to activists tracking regulations. “The mass balloon releases during football games at Memorial Stadium result in the open dumping of solid waste,” Mr. Krause alleged in a 14-page suit filed Monday. Around that time, environmental activists stepped up campaigns highlighting the ill-effects of such releases and localities began passing anti-balloon legislation—and the Guinness Book of World Records eventually ceased accepting submissions for mass balloon releases. An activist in Omaha is asking a federal court to ban balloon releases at University of Nebraska football games, the latest skirmish in a nationwide battle over whether the soaring spectacles exact a heavy toll on the environment.

Source: Fox News May 15, 2016 15:41 UTC