Overgovernment: No Bags For You Edition
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in General/Misc.
Sometimes I think nannies just put things on a giant roulette wheel and spin to find the next thing to ban. For the enviro-nuts in Los Angeles, the new(ish) evil is disposable bags.
You know that horrible feeling when you get to the grocery store ready to use reusable bags and realize you forgot them at home? Well, pretty soon forgetting them won’t be an option for customers at 7,500 supermarkets throughout California.
According to the LA Times, the Los Angeles City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee approved a ban on plastic and paper bags at grocery stores last Wednesday, saying it would make consumers more likely to use reusable bags. It has not yet been voted by the City Council as a whole.
My own little bastion of tyranny, otherwise known as Montgomery County, Maryland, recently decided to slap a pointless and obnoxious $.05 tax on bags. So I have to actually tell the cashier at Subway that yes, I want a freaking bag; I’m not going to just carry around a bagless sandwich like a hobo.
What has the world come to?
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.