Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Huntington Beach (CA) Councilmember Will Sponsor Repeal Plastic Bag Ban on 4/21/14

We are so very encouraged that next week, on 4/21/14 Huntington Beach Councilmember Dave Sullivan is going to propose repeal of plastic bags and 10c per paper bag fee. The ban and fees were imposed on big retailers, groceries, supermarkets, drug stores and farmer market. They took effect on 11/1/2013. And Mayor Matt Harper has been a staunch opponent to the bag ban.

We were disappointed to see some 80+ cities and counties in CA adopted the ban and fee without good verifiable facts. They were just following the Pied Piper match. It took citizens' effort to gather signatures to put repeal initiatives on ballots. We were encouraged by some successes:

In Durango, CO, Kirsten Smith of No Durango Bag Tax successfully repealed the bag tax with 56% to 44% votes in November'13.

In Homer, Alaska, in October'13 Voters voted down the bag ban passed in 2012 with approximate 54% to 44% votes.

In Issaquah, WA, Craig Keller of Save Our Choice after a long fight managed to put the repeal bag ban initiative on 2/2014 ballots. We were sad and disheartened that the repeal effort failed with 52% vs 48% votes (3595 "Yes" (to repeal) to 3945 "No"). Yet we were consoled that the margin was that close; almost 50/50, with only 39% voters turn-out.

We were comforted again that there were folks in Huntington Beach (CA), Walnut Creek (CA) and other parts of WA State who started gathering signatures to put repeal bag bans on ballots.
(In April 2015, Huntingon Beach voted 6-1 in repealing bag ban. And 2 councilmembers who voted for the ban got thrown out.)

The ban and bag fees are totally feel-good eco-fads. They do not help our environment. Instead they hurt our environment by aggravating global warming. And they hurt businesses and consumers. They only benefit the green consultants who are busy selling their "green" expertise and collecting their sweet "green" consulting fees. And they benefits the "environmental" non-profits and ensuring them funds that keep them busy and hiring. Go to my 8/2013 blog: To Read and To Watch for more articles and videos on why plastic bag ban hurts the environment. 

The bag bans and fees has turned off so many people; almost half of the general public. So, besides the necessities shopping for food and household items, many of us stop shopping. In my neighborhood, I counted 3 stores closed; Trutti Frutti, Pearl Gallery, La Paz. In downtown S.F, recently I counted these closed; Dress Barn, Loehman, Loft (Ann Taylor Loft), H&M Men, H2O. And in S.F Mall, White House|Black Market is closing; moving out of S.F. to Palo Alto.

Other adverse effects I have seem are:

- it turned off many good citizens who for the longest time voluntarily cooperated in recycling. These days, I found lots of paper, bottles, cans, cartons in black bins. Instead of leaving them in the blue bins outside, my neighbors opened the door to the stuffy garbage room and dump them in the trash bins.

- I used to donate small amounts to environmental non-profits. I am so turned off now that I no longer support them. I support conservative organizations which respect our liberty and are business-friendly.

- I was so annoyed with our Councilmembers / Supervisors for denying us a chance to vote. They sealed our fate with the votes of a handful of them. I can no longer respect them.

- more stores reported theft, for the owners can no longer tell if they were paid or not.


- meat juice breed bacteria. Single-use plastic bags are perfect medium to hold / contain meat product. People do not wash their bags, a cause for health hazard. 

We need more conservatives who are business-minded, who have good common-sense to run our governments. Say NO to Eco-Fads! It is time for us to turn California brown!




6 comments:

Unknown said...

Yipee, I love finding people who want to overturn the ban. I feel outnumbered when I go to these meetings in my backyard. Any advise would be wonderful. American Canyon is proposing a ban on August 19th. How do I get people there to oppose it. Would creating a germ monster hugging reusable bags be a turn off or attention getting? They like bringing in their bag man. As they send him out, I could welcome mine in?

Unknown said...

Let it go people. The single use plastic bag that we've all grown to despise has gone the way of DDT, leaded gasoline, cigarettes, asbestos, and coal fired power plants. Don't fight it, just let it go.....

Dragon song said...

The plastic bag is not despised. It is practical and just like the egg it was villianized before the facts came in.

Dragon song said...

Please keep fighting. My best argument has been pointing out the fact that people can still use the exact banned bag. It is sold by the box. Walmart is now selling a thicker plastic bag and has removed the paper bag in some places. The American Canyon Ordinance said that the stores can use the monies as they please and the other section is that they had to charge at least 10 cents or more.
Only one council member noted the hypocrisies. He even said that no wonder no store opposes. We have forced them to charge for something they give for free, and keep the money.
I just saw that the other side is hiring people to harass councils even though this goes to a vote next year. The goal is to nullify the vote of the people. The councils ordinances are overruled by the state and if it does
n't go in, people are still stuck even though they voted no.

RepealBagFee said...

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-plastic-bag-ban-repealed-in-huntington-beach-20150506-story.html

Hungtington Beached voted 6-to-1 in repealing plastic bag law which took effective on 6/3/15. They also ditched a couple of Council Members who voted for the ban.

RepealBagFee said...

What I hate the most: Eco-consultants who are there to fatten their wallets using pseudoscience.