OPINION:
I live in the people’s republic of Montgomery County, Maryland. Our claim to fame is that we are one of the highest-taxed counties in the country.
That is bad enough, but not long ago, the county adopted an ordinance — more than a decade ago now — effectively outlawing plastic bags at retail stores.
It used to be that the grocery cashier would ask, “Paper or plastic?” Now, the county’s rulers have declared they will make the choice for me: It is paper bags unless you want to bring your own.
Then there is what has happened to me and many others I have seen in the parking lot: The paper bags start to tear (especially when they get wet) and $85 worth of ice cream, juice, ground beef, asparagus and canned soup sprawl all over and under someone else’s car.
It is maddening. Plastic bags do not do this.
I saw this happen to a hapless mother with two small children and a paper bag full of groceries that splattered all over. A pack of kindly folks rushed to her aid, retrieved the groceries and then stacked them in the back seat of her car.
Why are plastic bags considered evil?
For many of us, plastic bags are undoubtedly more convenient, more reliable, greener and less expensive than paper bags.
I am told that the brainiacs on the Montgomery County Council have been convinced by left-wing environmental groups that plastic is a pollutant. We need to get rid of plastic bags to save the planet, or something like that.
The greens have been quite successful across the country with this anti-plastics campaign. At least a dozen states coast to coast — mostly blue, including California and New York — and scores of counties have outlawed plastic bags at grocery stores and other local business checkout counters.
Here is the irony. Chopping down trees to produce more paper bags makes carbon capture harder because trees absorb carbon dioxide. I thought these green groups cared about climate change.
Almost every study finds that paper bags are worse for the environment. A Danish government study found that you would have to reuse a paper bag 43 times to have a lower impact across environmental indicators than single-use plastic bags.
Some stores are now requiring customers to BYOB (bring your own bags).
When I have issued complaints to cashiers and retail store managers, most nod and assure me they feel my pain. They agree that it is a dumb policy and should be repealed. Still, the law is the law, even though everyone loses.
It is bad for business.
There is only one thing worse than banning plastic bags, and that is banning plastic straws. Paper straws turn to mush the moment they touch liquid, giving them a useful life of about three minutes, so slurp quickly or risk a blockage.
Let us save the planet and stop spills by bringing back good old, reliable, unbreakable plastic bags and straws. When it comes to groceries and drinks, we Americans should have the right to choose.
• Stephen Moore is a co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and a senior fellow at America First Policy Institute.
Follow the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.