City Council and Environment Shot Down

It's is trendy on the west coast to ban plastic bags in grocery stores, however one seaboard city snubbed its nose at the environment and city leaders. Tuesday, voters in Seattle rejected a 20 cent plastic bag fee.

According to the Associated Press, the fee would have been charged to customers for every plastic bag received from supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores. The city council passed an ordinance imposing the fee on shoppers, which did not sit well with the plastics industry, so it bankrolled the referendum to put the issue to a vote.

Supporters said the fee would have encouraged the use of reusable bags, cut down on pollution and waste and reduced green house gas emissions. Apparently, those opposed to the fee were worried about the same effects.

Of course the plastic industry, just like the former auto industry, doesn't want change. The more people use petroleum based products, the better. Saving the environment and the future of the human race is much less important than turning a profit and ensuring the vitality of the industry.

The plastics industry should learn a lesson from the disastrous fall of the Big Three. Diversify now. Find new product areas to branch out to, preferably something that is on the opposite spectrum from oil products. The demand for petroleum products will lessen as society continues to grow more wise to conservatism.