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 ...
That’s a great way to look at it. Too bad The Sheeple haven’t a clue...
You hate the plastic bags for semi-legitimate reasons, and want to force your desire upon others.
But did you once consider that people like me, handicapped people, like the plastic bags because we can carry them ourselves. Paper bags (which kill the sainted tree) are impossible for me to carry.
Cloth bags are impractical because of the cost (very limited budget), the quantity needed for a weeks worth of groceries and condiments.
Just think for once.
Being Green=license to tax and control your behavior.
>>forced us to use plastic over paper back in the day.
Ha, ya beat me to it.
No memory or logic allowed, please, we’re Americans.
This is good, more control, more control.
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