Monday, January 25, 2010
Chicagoland / Food Chain / Politics / Clout City Bag Tax!
Posted by Whet Moser on 01.25.10 at 07:15 PM
Less than a month into the program, which D.C. officials describe as an effort to reduce litter and generate funds to clean up the Anacostia River, the nickel bag fee is having a big impact. Managers at stores that sell food or beverages say the switchover has cut the use of plastic bags by half or more. One Safeway in Northwest reports a falloff of more than 6,000 bags a week, about half of its former volume.
DC's tax on plastic bags seems to be working well ("This is like a behavioral economist's dream"). The idea is something Mick Dumke's been writing about for a while. Via Ezra Klein, who discusses it in the context of health care and the excise tax.
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Erza Klein in trying to relate a 5 cent bag tax to a healthcare tax and cap and trade? The guy is an absolute mental midget.
Bag tax is a good idea, I hate getting half-a-dozen when I buy a few items from Walgreens.
Ezra Klein may like the latest government mandate, but the libertarians at Reason are pretty much harshing his mellow:
http://reason.com/blog/2010/01/26/dc-bag-t…
How about just consuming less stuff so you need fewer bags? And making fewer, smarter trips to the store which also conserves energy. Or get a small wastepaper basket and use the free plastic bags instead of purchased trash bags. Or start a recycling drive to turn the bags into benches in city parks. Or convincing city government that recycling is important in a way that doesn't increase taxes in the most heavily taxed city in the nation.
Winning this argument only helps the most conservative anti-tax argument that taxes are punishment and something to be avoided. If you want to avoid free plastic bags, shop at Aldi where they charge you for more durable bags or you bring your own. If you want to be a holier than thou environmentalist, consume away and then bitch how the plastic bags are killing the earth. Yeah...the plastic bags filled with YOUR STUFF. By all means ignore THE STUFF and the trip you took to get THE STUFF and blame the plastic bags and government.
