Bagless in Seattle: Green cultists to tax plastic and paper
When last I covered the environmental zealots in my old stomping grounds of Seattle, Mayor Greg Nickels was terrorizing the kids at Christmas time with tales of Santa and the reindeer drowning if they didn’t use compact fluorescent Gore bulbs. What are they up to now? The green cultists are preparing to impose a 20-cent tax on both paper and plastic bags in a bid to force everyone to use those itty-bitty cloth bags that’ll fit a head of organic lettuce and little else:
Seattle could trump even the greenest of American cities with fines on foam and taxes on bags — both paper and plastic, city politicians say.
Seattle would impose a 20-cent-per-bag “green fee” and outlaw foam food containers next year under a proposal announced Wednesday. Aiming to persuade Seattleites to ditch disposable bags, the city hopes to send a free reusable bag to every Seattle household, Mayor Greg Nickels said.
“No other city has done what we’re suggesting here,” Nickels said. “These actions will take tons of plastic and foam out of our waste stream. … The best way to handle a ton of waste is not to create it in the first place.” Eventually, Seattle restaurants also would be forbidden from using plastic food containers that can’t be recycled or composted, according to rules being developed by Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin. Some major questions about the policies remain — from political differences over how to spend the taxes to outstanding technical dilemmas. If adopted by the council, the fee would apply to disposable bags distributed at grocery, convenience and drug stores. The polystyrene foam ban would force restaurants and stores to find alternative egg cartons, meat trays, plates, “clamshells” and cups.
The foam and bag rules would go into effect Jan. 1. The plastic food container restrictions would be implemented July 2010.
“It’s a big symbolic step, but it’s also a very concerted step in the right direction,” Conlin said.
The environmental benefits of these bans are dubious. As OpenMarket.org points out, “Plastic bags play a minimal role in filling landfills–they are squishable, if people haven’t noticed–and often are reused by consumers for multiple purposes.” In other words: This is yet another empty gesture to give smaller-is-better elites another opportunity to impose their preferences on everyone else:
At the PCC store near Green Lake Wednesday, the idea of answering the question of “paper or plastic?” with “cloth” seemed entirely Seattle to Wendy Asbury. Asbury switched to cloth bags when she moved here eight months ago, she said.
“I’m from the Southwest, where everything is about gluttony and waste,” she said. “That’s what I loved about moving here; everything is so ‘green.’ ” But there were opponents, too, and the proposal set off a debate between friends in the PCC parking lot.
Jenn Young said encouraging people to use cloth seemed less onerous than penalizing them with the fee. “I disagree,” responded Naomi Fujinaka. “I’ve been bringing my cloth bag for 25 years.”
Young said: “It might be hard on families. If you have a family of six with four kids, and you go shopping once a week and you have 10 grocery bags, that can get to be a lot of money.” “Then you’ll know to bring your bag next time,” Fujinaka said. “We really have to change our behavior.”
And we know they don’t just want to stop at changing your choice of shopping bags.
While your kids and city councils have been brainwashed by the anti-bag crusade, scientists in Europe point out the facts and explode the myths that gave rise to the cult:
“The Government is irresponsible to jump on a bandwagon that has no base in scientific evidence,” said Lord Taverne, the chairman of Sense about Science. “This is one of many examples where you get bad science leading to bad decisions which are counter-productive. Attacking plastic bags makes people feel good but it doesn’t achieve anything.”
Campaigners say that plastic bags pollute coastlines and waterways, killing or injuring birds and livestock on land and, in the oceans, destroying vast numbers of seabirds, seals, turtles and whales. However, the Times has established that there is no scientific evidence to show that the bags pose any direct threat to marine mammals.
They “don’t figure” in the majority of cases where animals die from marine debris, said David Laist, the author of a seminal 1997 study on the subject. Most deaths were caused when creatures became caught up in waste produce. “Plastic bags don’t figure in entanglement,” he said. “The main culprits are fishing gear, ropes, lines and strapping bands. Most mammals are too big to get caught up in a plastic bag.”
He added: “The impact of bags on whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals ranges from nil for most species to very minor for perhaps a few species.For birds, plastic bags are not a problem either.”
The central claim of campaigners is that the bags kill more than 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds every year. However, this figure is based on a misinterpretation of a 1987 Canadian study in Newfoundland, which found that, between 1981 and 1984, more than 100,000 marine mammals, including birds, were killed by discarded nets. The Canadian study did not mention plastic bags.
Fifteen years later in 2002, when the Australian government commissioned a report into the effects of plastic bags, its authors misquoted the Newfoundland study, mistakenly attributing the deaths to “plastic bags.”
The figure was latched on to by conservationists as proof that the bags were killers. For four years the “typo” remained uncorrected. It was only in 2006 that the authors altered the report, replacing “plastic bags” with “plastic debris”. But they admitted: “The actual numbers of animals killed annually by plastic bag litter is nearly impossible to determine.”
In a postscript to the correction they admitted that the original Canadian study had referred to fishing tackle, not plastic debris, as the threat to the marine environment.
Regardless, the erroneous claim has become the keystone of a widening campaign to demonise plastic bags.
David Santillo, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told the Times that bad science was undermining the government’s case for banning the bags. “It’s very unlikely that many animals are killed by plastic bags,” he said. “The evidence shows just the opposite. We are not going to solve the problem of waste by focusing on plastic bags. “It doesn’t do the government’s case any favours if you’ve got statements being made that aren’t supported by the scientific literature that’s out there. With larger mammals it’s fishing gear that’s the big problem. On a global basis plastic bags aren’t an issue. It would be great if statements like these weren’t made.”
Looks like it’s too late.
***
Side note: The beleaguered plastic bag celebrated its 75th birthday last week.
Say goodbye to plastic. Say hello to smug crap like this:
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If I put “I am not a plastic bag” on a wool shirt, will our gooberment not tax me as well?
A man can dream.
Smug is right. I have the same level of disdain for people that use those cloth bags as I do for people who drive Priuses.
Better load up on toilet paper, it will be next.
We use plastic grocery bags to line our trash cans. Without them, we would need to buy a carton of plastic trash bags. We will still be putting plastic bags in the land fill, and be spending more money to do it.
I guess there’s some logic there, but I just can’t see it.
Those plastic bags are great for lots of things, including getting rid of dog poop.
I stockpile them.
I love those plastic bags! I reuse them all the time – as liners for smaller trash cans in my house and to keep in my car for trash or dirty kids cloths.
Hopefully Oklahoma won’t try this. I have seen a few people at the local Target with cloth bags though.
This should be something that a person chooses to do if they want to, not something the govt forces on us.
They let all of those expat nuts from California move up there.
I’m torn about this. Yeah it pisses me off, but when there’s five plastic bags hanging from trees in my block because kids litter all the time a part of me would love to see them gone. Then again, I do live in the dirtiest city in America, Philly, and if it’s not plastic bags it’ll be something else.
All I can say is,…idiots!
Conservative newspaper… the problems with plastic bags
Green issues can be conservative issues – why allow the far left zealots to hijack it?
Lower dependence on terrorist supporting oil from the middle east (Check out Saudi Arabia…)
Using low energy light bulbs saves money (and bonus! if they break they are not environmentally safe…so you can just be smug for saving money)
They don’t always reach the landfills…that is exactly part of the problem…
Remember folks: The Daily Mail is a very conservative paper in the UK… but just like conservative leader David Cameron (you know, the party Margaret Thatcher was the leader of
) they realise that green issues are not just for the far left.
That’s the problem that I have with this going green phenomenon, if you do not agree with their policies they want to force you to comply. They don’t care if you believe in it, like Nike they want you to – just do it.
I love plastic bags.
This frickin’ baloney was tried twenty years ago!
I was living in the People’s Republic of Boulder, then. So, I figured “why not be cool, and help save a whale or a tree by doing something simple for the environment”.
I got a few of those cloth bags and dutifully forgot them every time I went to the store, or when I did remember them, I would end up buying more than I could fit in my cloth bags. I ended up with just as many plastic/paper bags as before, and tossed the cloth bags.
I reuse plastic bags all the time, just like Jenmom. Failing that Publix, here in Florida, has a bin for customers to take their plastic bags for recycling.
“S.C.A.M.t”
Seattle Cunningly Adding More taxes
In my local left-wing liberal newspaper today one of our local communities (Pacific Grove) wants to do the same thing. Businesses are leaving this small town because….guess what? too high taxes and commercial rent. So instead of figuring out how to keep local businesses alive the city would rather show everyone how not to use plastic. We have no water here because eco-freaks would rather save a snail than clean out the silt of our local dam (90% silt). I am tired of the Sierra Club and all of their inept minions.
Yet another load free-me-of-my-guilt futility from the left.
If compressed correctly, you can fit at least one hundred in a paper towel tube and pull one out every time you need to reline your small trash cans, which is how we reuse them at home and in my classroom.
If the people who load up the plastic bags in the stores would put more items in each bag, you could probably cut the usage in half.
I would bet so, given the fact that no one will listen to scientific evidence now about global warming because the cult beliefs are so strong. People like the lie for some reason. Me? I like having a way to get my groceries home!
I too reuse those plastic bags all of the time. They even sell specific holders for storing your plastic bags. (I just stick them all in another bag, works for me – but I don’t think my bags are fancy enough for a stainless steel holder.)
I actually have a cloth shopping bag, I got it for free at a Trader Joe’s once. But it’s pretty useless. The one girl they interviewed gave the example of a family of eight, but even for just me and my husband one bag isn’t enough. I go to the store once a week (that’s a lie, I generally forget something and have to go back) and buy everything we need all at once. One cloth bag will not hold all that.
I have one of those cloth bags I use on occasion. I live within walking distance of the supermarket and those plastic bags are a pain to carry.
My cloth bag is perfectly sized for my needs. I can carry a 6-pack, a large bag of chips, assorted dips and a frozen pizza.
Actually, if I’m walking I do prefer the cloth bag to the plastic when carrying heavy items. It’s sturdier. However, I do like the plastic bags for other uses, such as ling small trash cans.
I wish I had that problem. They stuff the bags where I shop. Produce and meat in the same bag, the whole chicken on top of my tomatoes, all the cans and jars in one impossibly heavy bag… Once some kid put a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, a can of Crisco, and several jars in one plastic bag!
What will happen is people will just shop and eat outside the city limits and I bet a few restaurants end up moving if this passes.
On April 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 am, RaisedRight said:
RR, we must shop at the same store! Haven’t these people/baggers heard of salmonella poisoning?
The government shouldn’t be involved with forcing people to use plastic bags. We have not been using them since 1994 based on our own common sense choice. The cloth bags are excellent and they last for years. Plus we get a 5 cent credit per cloth bag used when grocery shopping.
No problem. Take one small cloth bag to the store, but what will fit in it, take home & empty the bag, then back to the store for more groceries. Repeat until pantry is stocked. Multiple trips, lots of gas, but no paper or plastic bags used.
Speaking of taxing plastic…how about a tax on condoms?
Whole foods was handingout cloth bags for earth day last year. We still haven’t used ours once.
On a different note, back when I was in high school and I had bag boy frieds, they would HATE the cloth bags. (since it was Boulder people used them all the time.)
We use those plastic bags for picking up dog poop on their walks. Now what are we going to do? Let it pile up, put it in a cloth bag and send it to Seattle govt building for proper disposal.
The only foam taxable is the foam between the ears of the politicians in WA and the left coast.
poor people suffer again, thanks to the compassionate disposition of liberals.
how long will it be before you see the poor toting their groceries on the bus in pillow cases?
I also reuse the plastic bags for garbage can liners, to use in my van, dog poop, etc. I really, really hate how people will just tax others to make them do what they want them to do.
If this takes effect we won’t have bags to put over their heads when needed.
Yet another feel good exercise, yet another excise tax, yet another corporate take-away/unbundling where
the containers to take your groceries home now come with a cost instead of being included in the price as they have been for the living memory of most Americans.
If we really cared about our environment, all packaging would have to be recyclable with segregated disposal to facilitate this
Meanwhile that elephant in the room, the global population, continues to grow which is the prime mover in environmental degradation.
Totalitarian Control Freaks strike again.
I remember when plastic bags were supposed to be the latest enviro-savior, by saving trees and reducing shipping weight.
At least we know they won’t tax tinfoil.
BTW, I re-use plastic bags for my lunch sack (if they didn’t carry raw meat items).
I guess Dems want folks like me to buy a whole separate package of lunch bags.
You’re right, but inefficient, ineffective, and downright silly solutions are just for the far left.
Most conservatives I know care deeply about the environment. However, they also tend to follow two basic rules.
1. Be certain that the problem exists (there are many, many environmental issues which pass this test).
2. Develop an efficient solution to #1.
What’s the big deal? If you’re so outraged by this, just pay the 20 cents.
I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Are you listening?
Plastics.
We should start a plastic bag drive for Seattle and send our surplus plastic bags to some charitable group there that could distribute them free of charge to consumers. Or perhaps we could send all our surplus bags directly to the Seattle City Hall. After all, recycling isn’t just for residents of Seattle!
It’s easy to be green when you ignore the facts.
The Army Reserve was handing out zippered “canvas” bags (advertising ourselves of course) last year – we had so many of them we put them out in an entrance way with a “Take them” sign on the boxes. I grabbed a few and now keep them in the back seats of our cars.
At least one store around here gives me a 5 cent incentive to use them. I personally don’t need any more plastic bags (I’ve got lots) and when I need more paper bags to use to hold recycling, I’ll ask for them.
Are you kidding? This is what I’m upset about. Why should I be taxed for putting my groceries in plastic bags?
I bet the cloth bags are going to be made out of hemp.
Hippie 1: Hey man, why aren’t you using your cloth grocery bag?
Hippie 2: Dude, I smoked it. It was far out.
Hippie 1: Far out man.
Its a choice. You can pay or not. Just bring a damn bag with you.
Teddy Roosevelt would be proud of your conservative outrage.
#40 TexasTiger:
Thank you for posting that info.
Terific.
And, I repeat what I said way back in #9 about these Sattle clowns who are pushing for this plastics tax…:
idiots.
Guess we’ll all be naked before long.
Those dyes in fabrics can kill ya know.
Umm…Seattle
Apologies.
We already do. They are handed out in schools all over America and guess who foots the bill?
We should be more concerned with this countrys erosion than global(farce) warming. quick! take a deep breath before you’re taxed for it.
Ha! lol gayle, now that’s scary, some peeps I just don’t wish to see naked.
Dude, where’d you learn your customer service skills? At the DMV?
It’s none of the government’s business how I get my groceries home. Got it?
I’m confused. If you recycle the bags then how is it a problem.
I have to agree though, it’s hard to recycle the bag when it’s full of dog poop like they are at our house.
The government should worry about things like lowering the cost of government.
They should name these bags…
S.A.D’s
Spread a Disease
Bags.
Green cultists? Oh my! Sure, anytime taxation is used to modify someone’s behavior I object, but let’s look at this for what it is: Government encroachment further into people’s lives under the guise of environmental awareness.
Bring your own freaking bag to the grocer and the whole issue is moot. A little forethought is all that’s required.
On April 3rd, 2008 at 11:43 am, granite said:
Ditto! It’s a money thing – and nothing more!
I’m not a dude. Got it?
Its an outrage! An outrage, you hear!?? We have terrorists, a recession, morons running for president, a couple of wars on, and $3.50 a gallon gasoline, but we need to be outraged by … plastic bags!!! An outrage!!!
Or maybe you should just take a damn bag (or a man-purse) to the grocery store and save yourself 20 cents, big spender.
Seems that some folks at this blog just can’t see; or refuse to admit the existence of; or in fact are in favor of and support, the salami tactics that the opposite-worldview-holders among us continue to employ in their construction and imposition of a super-nanny state.
Yes’m Miz Daisy! Whatever you say. Ah keep mah wallet open fo’ the gummint’s pleasure. Whenever you wants, jes’ reach raht in!
#10 sausage – Thank you for that first link. Sure enough, there was that harmless little typo:
“• END OF LIFE
In the oceans, plastic bags and other waste kill a million sea birds and 100,000 animals such as whales, dolphins, turtles and seals, each year”.
What makes you believe that anything else there is factual?
These wackos never consider how their policies affect people with families (and therefore have to buy more food) or the elderly. It’s all about making themselves feel good.
Wow StrangeLove, did you forget your coffee this morning? Take a deep breath and try to watch the language… there are ladies present.
I don’t remember anyone saying that a plastic bag tax is the most important issue facing our country today. However, if you think this issue begins and ends with whether or not we want to fork over 20 cents you are seriously blind.
This one little annoying bag tax is an example of a much larger problem… one that I feel is right up there with some of the top issues facing this country. This is part of the issue of government control. They have decided that they can ban us from eating the foods we want and from smoking in our own yards (I don’t smoke but I’m still bothered by that one) and using certain wattage light bulbs and so many small things that should not have anything to do with the government. That doesn’t even touch on the much larger ways they invade our homes and our rights.
I don’t know how much control you want the government to have over your life, but I think a lot of us want them to back off.
Hannibal:
Maybe we should ban plastic bags. After all autos, drugs, malaria, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and plastic bags kill millions of people every year.
Let’s do it for the children!
#60 RaisedRight:
Excellent post!
Exactly my point.
I know all the trash (evil plastic bags included) stops up storm drains. We litter to much.
Stop littering.
I’d rather those environmental people simply impose discounts if a person brings their own bag. I think a market force is better than a government force myself.
re: #63 I didn’t mean “impose” a discount. That’s silly. I meant to say “offer discounts”.
#61 On April 3rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm, TexasTiger said:
“Hannibal:
Maybe we should ban plastic bags. After all autos, drugs, malaria, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and plastic bags kill millions of people every year.
Let’s do it for the children!”
Heh, heh!
Good one!
Along the idea of, “Taxing plastic bags + a dollar (or more) will get you a cup of coffee.”
My money is on plastic bags going the way of the dodo. The noisemakers are always the ones with the most extreme views, and they’ll eventually win.
This has been discussed in the Los Angeles area, and it’s coming to a store near you.
Can I point out to the envirowackos that I already get multiple uses out of those plastic grocery bags, by using them for the disposal of cat litter box waste? In fact, I actually had to buy a whole boxful of those bags at Costco, as I don’t buy enough bags of groceries to get enough bags to fill the demand.
/don’t live in Seattle, thank God
Top issues? You’re kidding, right? Plastic bags? For the love of God, what the hell are you thinking? Taxing plastic bags is one of the most important issues facing our country?
How about you just take a damn bag to the grocery store and then you can feel like the rebel you clearly are as you put one over on the man by escaping the dreaded 20 cent tax???
Go rebels, go!
I only read a little over 1/2 the posts here, got the message and asked myself. I live in the dark blue state of Orygun, i’ve seen the clothe bags for sale at the grocery stores and other shopping sites, which means it is by choice if you use them or not. I find it hard to believe Washington, Calif. or any other modern day city, state doesn’t recycle these oil based products along with glass, tin and cardboard, so what exactly is the problem?
Looks a lot more like a another fascist move on the part of the so called open mined, tolerant libs looking to control the citizenry.
I don’t agree that cloth bags are always “itty-bitty”. I got a freebie bag from Yahoo for signing on to their Green page and it is more voluminous than plastic or paper bags, and also a lot stronger. It will swallow a gallon of milk, 1/2 gallon of OJ, container of ice cream, and still have room for more.
For all that, I do agree it is draconian and un-American to take away people’s right to choose.
Yep, out family’s doing our part for the environment by saving and reusing plastic bags like pretty much everyone else does.
The issue is the government-sponsored one-two punch of fraud and extortion. If that doesn’t matter to you, fine. Everyone can’t see the forest for the trees.
How many made-up votes will one of those cloth bags hold?
Clearly this tax will have a disparate impact on society’s most vulnerable–the PHLEGM (Poor, Handicapped, Lesbian, Elderly, Gay and Minorities).
The elderly, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, can’t remember to bring their bags. The poor and minorities can’t afford ritzy cloth bags. The handicapped will be burdened by the extra weight of the sturdy cloth bags. As for the gays and lesbians…we’ll let lgm represent for them.
Fight the Tax! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!
You are really starting to get on my nerves, you condescending little punk. Did you even read my post? If you did, it’s clear that you failed to understand it. I did not say that “Taxing plastic bags is one of the most important issues facing our country.” I said that it was symptomatic of a much larger problem. And unless you want to have a real, adult discussion, I’m done with you.
Same subject, conservation, different item…being rebellious as i am, i’m stocking up on incandescent light bulbs, i’ll show that idiot Gorbalwarning. Bought some yesterday, what’s with the new incandescent bulbs rating? 60 watt are now 57, 75’s are 71 and 100’s are 97…huh? Are they suppose to be saving energy or ? Not filled with toxic chemicals like gore bulbs anyway.
Even once you look past the invasiveness of this proposal there’s still the problem of it being completely illogical. Based on the comments here, it would appear that almost everyone reuses those plastic bags. So how is it automatically better for the environment if everyone uses cloth bags for groceries? Is it better for people to reuse plastic bags or buy several specific bags… some for trash can liners, more for dog poo pickup, more for cat box liners, more to keep in the minivan, etc…?
#71 On April 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm, rightisright said:
“Looks a lot more like a another fascist move on the part of the so called open mined, tolerant libs looking to control the citizenry.”
Exactly!!
I strongly recommend Jonah Goldberg’s new book, “Liberal Fascism”.
Maybe we should export this idea to Mexico. That way when they litter up our open spaces on their way north, they won’t leave behind a sea of plastic, just cloth bags.
bloghooligan said:
Actually that’s not a bad idea. When I was a wee-little crumb-cruncher, I’d use a pillow case to go trick-or-treating.
What a haul! What a haul!
My old company handed out those cloth bags on Earth Day once. We used ours to carry baby supplies.
If improper disposal is such a problem, there are better conservative free-market methods to reducing the consumption of this useful resource. For one, isn’t there some discount supermarket in the Midwest and East Coast where you pay for each bag you use, and savings are passed on to the customers? And one of our local markets give you a discount in your grocery bill if you bring your own bags. And another store has a recycle bin where you can dump your old bags if you accumulate too many at home. Typical libs just want to impose another tax to solve the problem.
But we are among those that have a dozen uses for old plastic bags, so we always get more when we can.
We try to use cloth bags as much as possible, but sometimes we have more groceries than bags, so we get stuck having to accept plastic bags.
But, no matter how much effort we put into trying to conserve, I’ve seen some really stupid stuff on the part of the retailers. I bought a gallon of milk recently, the checker started putting it into a plastic bag; since the milk container has an easy carry handle I told the clerk that I didn’t need a bag. So, she takes the milk out of the bag and throws the bag into the trash under the check stand. This has happened on several occasions after telling the checker that we don’t need a bag for single item purchase.
On another recent trip to the store I had a few items and they all would fit into one bag, but the bagger was starting to put some items into a second bag. I told her that I only needed one bag. So she filled the bag with all the items and them placed that bag into another bag!
Who pays the “green fee” for those wasted bags?
{whispering} I see stupid people.
Bingo, Michelle! Leftists with authority are the incarnation of the phrase, “Give a monster a cookie, and it wants a glass of milk.”
There’s a posting over at Power Line today discussing the effects of an EU mandate forcing British bus drivers to take “rest breaks” after only 31 miles of driving; the effect on users of public transportation, predictably, has been ridiculous.
But this kind of meddling, micro-managing insanity is where you end up whenever “More government and more regulation is the solution to everything” types get their hands on real power.
They will never be able to wrap their heads around the simple truth that government growth vs. individual rights is a zero-sum transaction: whenever there is a change in the mixture, somebody wins – and somebody loses.
I had a great idea. Why not tax newspapers an extra 75 cents per daily copy? Hear me out.
What is newspapers made out of? Trees. And what do trees absorb? Carbon dioxide. What “greenhouse gas” is responsible for “Global Warming?” Carbon dioxide. So the logical conclusion is, cutting down trees to make newspapers contributes to global warming. Which brings me to my proposal.
I think we should tax every single newspapers 75 cents a copy. That way it would both help fight global warming using the money to buy carbon off sets and/or it will discourage people from buying newspapers which will save trees which absorb carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.
The idea of charging “green” newspaper fees that would make subscribers to a newspaper pay higher taxes and offer discounts for those who strictly read their news on the internet for free would be a environmentally friendly way to conserve our precious resources and at the same time fight global warming. What do you think?
Correction: link in my earlier post should be to Right Wing News instead of Power Line (but that blog is always a good read in any event).
I can’t get over how many Corporations and Governments have fallen for the junk science behind all this “Green” BS. Global Warming/Climate Change commercials are enough to make my head explode when I see them on TV. I quickly find myself reaching for the mute or on/off button every time they play.
Now the Eco-Nazis in the tree hugging People’s Republic of Seattle want to do away with the dreaded killer plastic bags I use for our paper shredder and small trash cans in our bathrooms. I agree with many of the other comments made that this will only end up truly hurting the poor or those of us that choose to breed causing “Mother Earth” to die a slow death by our wanting to keep the species viable. You will take my paper or plastic bags from my cold dead hands. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE!
Yup, that discount store would be Aldi, my mother-in-law loves that place. Also, every store in our area has a bin for recycling plastic bags and our local grocery chain has a discount for bringing in your own bags. You’re right, why can’t we just leave this up to the consumers?
Like many, I am torn over this issue too. Plastic bags can be seen laying around and blowing around all over the place here.
Hey, if Dolphins are letting their kids play with plastic bags, are they really so smart?
Solution: Leave Detroit and move to Texas! We’re waiting for ya’!
AlohaGuy:
Maybe we should force the dolphins (not the crappy football team) to use cloth bags.
Hey, thats great. I haven’t been called a punk all day long and who better to do it than you, anonymous internet person? I always resort to personal insults when I have no retort, because that shows I’m a tough guy and if you disagree with me, then I’m going to do some serious damage to your chi and stuff. Why’d you leave out beret wearing, BTW? You should have used the phrase ‘condescending, beret wearing, commie pinko, liberal, hemp smoking punk.’ Its how all the cool guys are insulting me now. Try to keep up.
OK, lets talk about that ‘bigger’ problem of government control. Lets go ahead and remove all ‘government control’ like you’d have in your perfect world. The first thing I’d do is drive my monster truck over to your house and change my oil in your front yard, because I don’t want the government telling me where I can spill my oil. Then, I’d drive my chemical truck over to the river and dump my load of toxins and pcbs, because I don’t want the man to tell me where I can pollute. This is America, dammit! Then I’d go over to the Piggly Wiggly and make the staff pack each of my grocery items in a separate bag because I’m like Howard Hughes and must protect my raisins from the evil fluids of the cheese and no damn government bureaucrat is going to tell me how to protect my precious fluids.
And then I’d drive home straight thru some unprotected wetlands, tossing beer cans out the window, pausing only to smoke some cigarettes in the nearest elementary school. And … this is the best part … when I get home, I’D THROW THOSE PLASTIC BAGS RIGHT IN THE GARBAGE because thats the kind of tough guy, anti-establishment animal I am.
Eat hot death, liberal government commies! You can have my plastic bags when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Hello? Paper bags are biodegradable AND recyclable.
Wow!
RaisedRight: check out #93.
You must have hit a nerve!
Never mind a straw man…#93 set up a straw monster, or straw army!!
Very amusing how #93 proves the point of his debate opponents by his own posting.
Priceless!
Forced to use cloth bags, brilliant! What a terrific way to spread disease in to our food chain! Well I suppose if you are the type of person to hound kids into embracing mercury filled killer light bulbs there is no limit to your idiocy. The econazis, they’re coming for you next!
@ #93 StrangeLove.. ROFL!
I find that hard to believe…
At least they wouldn’t drop the ball quite as much.
Strangelove, time for a little thorazine? It’s called a slippery slope.