January 17, 2019
From plastic bags to plastic straws, forks, spoons and knives, to Styrofoam cups and take out boxes – city, county and state governments have jumped on one faulty environmental bandwagon after another. In many cases, they cause more fuel use and ecological damage than if they had done nothing. It’s social engineering and make-believe environmental protection by decree.
For example, plastic shopping bags manufactured in the United States are made from natural gas – and America has at least another century of gas right under our feet. Moreover, plastic grocery bags require 70% less energy to manufacture than paper bags, and it takes far more raw materials and fossil fuel energy to grow and harvest trees, make pulp and turn it into paper bags, than to make plastic bags.
Hal Shurtlef makes a strong case for less impassioned, and more fact-based, analysis and law-making on plastic and other environmental issues.
Don’t
ban plastic bags! Learn the facts about plastic
versus paper bags – and bag the bans, instead Hal Shurtlef Like dozen towns and cities
in Massachusetts and other states, Boston recently enacted a ban on plastic
shopping bags. It went into effect December 14, 2018. It was a relatively easy
vote, because "evil†plastic bags have received extensive bad press that
generally ignores important facts.
The same holds true in other
jurisdictions, especially those controlled by Democrats who a generation ago
cared about American workers, but today too often subjugate the needs of blue
collar families to demands by college educated and environmentalist elites, and
even noisy grade school kids. For example, when
Los Angeles was talking about banning plastic bags, employees from a business
that manufactured plastic bags spoke in person to the city council, begging it
not to ban their products. The company employed hundreds of low-skilled people,
paid them well and gave them excellent benefits. Many of the employees had
worked there for years because they were treated so well. They presented
rational, factual information about their plastic bags. But the city council
enacted the ban anyway, put the company out of business, and left the employees
jobless, some of them likely homeless. And of course
it’s not just plastic bags. Los Angeles just banned plastic straws, and the
state legislature is preparing to ban the straws statewide. Santa Barbara, CA
banned all single use plastics: no more plastic forks, spoons, knives, Styrofoam
cups and take-out boxes. Paper and cardboard only, from now on. It is all social
engineering and fake environmental protection by decree. Here are some
essential facts that you and government officials need to consider carefully in
the future. Plastic shopping bags made in
the United States are made from natural gas, not oil – and America has at least
another century of natural gas right under our feet. Moreover, plastic grocery
bags require 70% less energy to manufacture than paper bags. In fact, it takes
far more raw materials and fossil fuel energy to grow and harvest trees, make
pulp and turn it into paper bags, than to make plastic bags. Manufacturing plastic bags
also consumes less than 4% of the water needed to make paper bags. In the
process, plastic bags produce fewer greenhouse gases per use than paper or cotton bags. It then takes seven trucks to
deliver the same number of paper bags that a single truck can haul if the bags
are made from plastic. That means it also takes far more (mostly fossil fuel)
energy to transport reusable and paper bags than it does to transport plastic
bags. EPA data show that plastic
bags make up only 0.5 % of the U.S. municipal waste stream. Plastic bags are
100% reusable and recyclable, and many stores make that process simple. Reusable and paper bags take
up far more space than plastic bags in landfills, and the airless environment of
landfills means paper bags do not decompose for years, or even decades. Most reusable bags are made
in China and Vietnam, then shipped to the USA in fossil fuel burning cargo
ships. Reusable bags are made from heavier and thicker plastic or cotton, which
takes more energy to produce, even if it’s recycled fabric or plastic. A
reusable bag must be used no less than 132 times before having a "greenerâ€
environmental impact that a plastic grocery bag. Reusable bags aren’t
recyclable, and reusable bag giveaways are environmentally costly when unwanted
bags end up in the dumpster, often after one or even no use. Research from Arizona has
determined that few people wash their reusable grocery shopping bags, 8% of
reusable bags harbor E. coli bacteria, and nearly all unwashed bags harbor other
pathogenic bacteria. Some stores have seen
declines in business. One Solana Beach, CA business saw a 25% decline in
business following the implementation of a plastic bag ban. A Grocery Outlet
Store told a Portland, Oregon newspaper that it lost over $10,000 to shoplifters
walking in with and using their own reusable bag to exit with merchandise
without going through checkout lines. Other stores reported losses
of hand-carried plastic and metal grocery baskets due to bans. Following Seattle’s ban,
store owners surveyed post-ban reported seeing their costs for carryout bags
increase between 40 and 200 % The City of Boston
implemented its ban in defiance of the U.S. Constitution Article 1, Section, 8,
Clause 3, the Commerce Clause, and the Massachusetts Constitution, amended
Article 2, which prohibits municipalities from enacting private or civil laws
governing civil relationships. Other governments have no doubt ignored U.S. and
state laws and constitutions in enacting their bans. They are often enabled by
entities like the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives
(ICLEI), a United Nations subdivision founded in 1990 to implement the goals of
Agenda 21, now called Agenda 2030. Massachusetts Green Communities, and Vision
Boston 2030 have all labeled plastic bags a "public enemy,†despite the
above-mentioned facts. Bad science and emotionalism
lead to bad laws. But you can take steps to stop the madness. Read and use the "Bag the Ban†flyers that our Camp Constitution
organization developed. Watch our video on plastic versus paper bags. Write to me at CampConstitution1@gmail.com Contact your elected
officials, and demand that the bans be lifted. Refuse to pay the 5 to 10
cents per bag that your city forces store owners to charge. Encourage store owners to
fight the ban. If enough of them worked together, bans could be overturned. The
Texas Supreme Court has overturned bans on plastic bags. Other courts could do
likewise. We all care about our
environment and planet. But we should be protecting those values from real
dangers, employing actions that actually work. __________ Hal Shurtlef is a life-long Boston
resident,US. Army Veteran, Member of the Sons of the American Revolution,
father of five homeschooled children, director and co-founder of Camp
Constitution
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