Posted on 11/07/2008 3:31:39 PM PST by Eric Blair 2084
In its struggle to make New York more green, the Bloomberg administration has tried discouraging people from using plastic bags. It has taken out ads beseeching residents to use cloth bags and set up recycling bins for plastic bags at supermarkets.
But now the carrots have been put away, and the stick is out: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register.
If the proposal passes, New York City would follow the lead of many European countries and become one of the first places in the United States to assess a so-called plastic bag tax.
Seattle voters will weigh in on a similar measure next year, and other places, like Los Angeles and Dallas, have studied the idea.
City officials estimate that the fee could generate $16 million a year, a figure that Mr. Bloomberg would no doubt appreciate, given the lingering and concussive effects of the global economic crisis on the city’s economy.
But while the fee would burnish Mr. Bloomberg’s environmental record, it might not be a lasting source of revenue. Just a few weeks after Ireland adopted a similar, though much heftier tax in 2002 — charging shoppers 33 cents a bag — plastic bag use dropped 94 percent, and within a year, nearly everyone in that country had purchased reusable cloth bags. Still, the mayor believes that the 6-cent fee would have a major impact on consumers’ behavior.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Paper or plastic?
I have my lines memorized:
Plastic please, it burns better. When it get colder I’ll be burning rubber tires. The smoke’s kinda nasty but I want to make sure the planet stays warm. BTW, if you’re enjoying this summer weather, you’re welcome.
(exit stage right)
i didn’t type that he was a Rino. He’s a democrat cloaking himself in republican clothes. I know full well he only ran as a Pube to separate himself from a crowded demoncrat primary.
You mean the same plastic bags the greenies forced us to use against our will in the first place?? Does this mean I can get paper bags now without asking? Does this mean future environMENTAL chicken-littling will be greeted with more skepticism? Didn't think so. :-(
You, me and everyone here knows that Emperor Bloomberg ran with an R next to his name out of convenience. Libertarians took great pains while he had that R next to his name and point and laugh and remind people he was an R.
There should be a test before they let any horse tooth jackass put the letter next to their name. It cheapens the brand.
Much like garbage, Emperor Bloomberg took himself out of the party. It’s great when the garbage takes itself out. Makes our job easier.
Maybe. The sheeple will just shut up and do what they tell them.
We’ll take care of your needs. In exchange they will obey.
I do use the canvas bags now. They're just a lot easier to handle when trucking groceries in from the car. No more of those circulation-stopping plastic tourniquets. And, if I'm feeling particularly frisky in the market, I'll avoid plastic bags altogether just for the sport of watching the checkers chase down the loose oranges, apples or other roly-poly fruits.
But Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore.
Keep up your (subversive) spirit.
I’m with you. Always ask for plastic. Thank you.
Think of the poor trees!
Use it to start your charcoal (Denver Post)
I never thought I’d say any “tax” was good, but I would personally be in favor of a tax like this. I HATE THOSE PLASTIC BAGS! If a tax would force everyone to use paper or cloth, it would be a better world. Have you ever gone to a land fill and seen how those things last forever? On the sides of the roads, in the water. And they aren’t even a GOOD bag! I’m not a tree hugger. I want logging to be vastly encouraged, but I hate these bags and doing away with them alltogether would make me a happy person.
Dead meat on a burning grill offends PETA. Smoke from Charcoal hurts the environment. Get with the progressive program.
That is a good one !
Last summer when this first came out, a checker asked me if I wanted a cloth bag, so we can save the planet.
When I asked her what we were saving it from, she had no answer.
But I like your reply better.
Really ? How would a totalitarian dictatorship be a better world?
They’re doing this in a few towns around here, too.
I’ve been sewing tote bags from chicken feed sacks and dog food sacks to carry groceries, books, clothes, your lunch, etc. They make the sacks I recycle in this very strong, mesh-reinforced material these days. They are so funky-cool...and they’ll NEVER break down in the landfill (where all things eventually end up) when they finally show up there, versus those wimpy plastic bags that DO degrade and they want to ban, LOL!
Keep it up, Hippies! I’ll find a market for my totes and I’d love nothing more than to make a buck off of your ‘political correctness’ and LUV, LUV, LUV for Mother Earth.
*SMIRK*
The people of the US get dumber, on the average, every frickin' year.
bttt. I didn’t know that.
They are apparently members of the progressive idea of the day club.
Forest fires are better??
I abhor plastic...and I believe it's a petroleum product.
Of course it will --- people will start buying bags - much like the ones I have been making and selling.
You know me. I'm inclined to be obnoxious and walk in there with a $10 bill and ask for a stack of plastic bags....then throw them around the parking lot just to make a point.
Then I'll take one of your sewed tote bags for convenience when I go shopping. I refuse to do anything that Gubmint tries to coerce me to do. It's like being a perpetual child in Hell....I pay them an allowance in exchange for being sent to my bed without supper when I act up.
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