The ubiquitous plastic grocery bag that pollutes and clutters the big city is simple to get rid of. San Francisco all but removed plastic from the scene with a series of measures to steer consumers toward usage of their own reusable bags. Many jurisdictions out west followed suit and now the entire state of California has banned use of the plastic bag for most retail transactions.<\/p>\n
A modest effort here in New York City to curtail use of the plastic bag is getting opposition from unexpected forces. When the New York City Council\u2019s Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management conducting a hearing on the subject last week, I was shocked to learn that Teamsters Local 237 has lined up squarely against a ten-cent fee on the plastic bag. Teamsters Local 237 President Greg Floyd made a laughably self-serving statement in support of the polluted status quo. Said Floyd: \u201cWe believe this legislation would lead to irreparable harm to the unionized plastic bag manufacturing industry in New York City in favor of reusable bags that are made overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even some of the most liberal council members are framing the dime per bag fee as somehow regressive and injurious to the low income consumer. Mayor Bill de Blasio and council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito are both failing to openly support the bag fee. Under the measure, retailers would collect and keep the fee which would dissuade consumers from using plastic. It\u2019s not an outright ban. It\u2019s a surcharge to shift behavior. The regressive tax argument (including the disappointing position taken by liberal lion Bertha Lewis) implies the lower income strata is incapable of toting reusable bags. Give \u2018em away, if need be. The tax isn\u2019t regressive if it\u2019s truly optional which is the case here.<\/p>\n
Labor unions and advocates for the poor should have natural linkage to pro-environment causes but seem to have lost their way on this issue. Charge a dime for the plastic bag. And then after a couple years of shifting behavior – ban \u2018em altogether. They\u2019re an environmental menace. Retailers will adjust and we\u2019ll be a better place for it. Our friends on the left coast pulled it off. They always seem to do it a few years ahead of us. Let\u2019s not drag feet. Let\u2019s do away with the plastic grocery bag!<\/p>\n
-What made the incredible one-handed Odell Beckham Jr. TD catch against Dallas last night even more unbelievable to me was the uncanny foreshadowing of the feat by NBC\u2019s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. A few minutes before the score<\/a>, the pair discussed a package of practice highlights showing Beckham snatching footballs from the air as if they were marshmallows. Under the clips, symphony music played. The jump and pluck technique employed by Beckham was creatively captured by the assembly of practice footage and kudos to NBC for good timing on the set-up to one of the more memorable football plays you\u2019ll ever see. Incidentally, Michaels is pushing a new autobiography and did an entertaining spot with Francesa last Friday that included a great anecdote about a 1981 limo ride through Kansas City with Howard Cosell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ubiquitous plastic grocery bag that pollutes and clutters the big city is simple to get rid of. San Francisco all but removed plastic from the scene with a series of measures to steer consumers toward usage of their own … Continue reading