Plastic bags: Ban them or tax them? A hearing happens 1/22

Tired of seeing plastic bags littering our streets? Don't like millions of your tax dollars spent on landfilling discarded plastic bags, cleaning up dirty oceans, and de-clogging drains? Then show up at a Jan. 22 hearing of Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors hearing on whether to require a reduction in one-use plastic bags.

When: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22
Where: 383 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.

On the agenda is a discussion of a number of options to reduce plastic bag use. One option is an outright ban on plastic bags; the enviro-nonprofit Heal the Bay has a petition supporting this option.

Others prefer a bag tax. An opinion piece in the L.A. Times points out that a ban on plastic bags creates a hidden tax, because stores pass on to consumers the higher costs of plastic bag alternatives, such as biodegradable bags. A bag tax, in contrast, would affect only consumers who use plastic bags. Moreover, a simple switch to a biodegradable bag still supports a one-use, disposable bag habit, while a per-bag fee encourages reusable bag use.

Of course, implementing a bag tax isn't as simple as it may seem. Few people realize that municipalities aren't allowed to put a fee on plastic bags, thanks to an odd provision in a 2006 bill intended to encourage recycling plastic bags. At the Jan. 22 hearing,  the supervisors are expected to vote on a motion calling on the Legislature to repeal that provision, as well as impose a statewide fee on plastic bags.

In California, we're already behind San Francisco and Oakland, which have plastic bag bans. More recently, China and Australia have announced similar anti-plastic bag measures.

So attend the hearing and let your voice be heard. What would you prefer: a bag ban or a bag tax?

Photo courtesy of envirowoman

Comments

[Dmitriy]

They want to put a tax on the bags, well that is fine by me. They got to keep in mind, if i pay for it, then i will just throw it on the street and let city clean it up. After all i already paid for the cleaning the bags, when i paid the tax for using them.

[Stephanie]

I thought that Ireland also put a tax on plastic bags.

[David Rice]

I move that a small deposit be required for plastic bags and cigarette butts.

[Roxanne]

I find it quit strange that Dmitry, someone that reads a 'green" blog, would just want to throw bags in the street and let the city clean it up. I mean come on! Why not just buy some reusable bags, instead of threatening to pollute the environment even more! Be part of the solution not the problem.

[RD]

I often hear how bag taxes will harm the poor. But I don't believe that. As Roxanne pointed out, nobody is forced to pay a tax because you are allowed to use your own bags. If the City is concerned about impacts on the poor, then perhaps some of the revenue generated can be used to distribute free reusable bags. The costs are minimal.

And Dmitry: As long as you're paying for car insurance, why don't you get into an accident as well?