"Pullman council considering plastic bag fee"

Some quick observations from last night's plastic bag tax public hearing:

The total number of signatures on the Pullman Consumers for Choice petition was 132.

A total of four council members spoke on the plastic bag tax last night. Bill Paul felt that the debate had been healthy. Ann Heath said the science on plastic bags was sketchy and didn't think government was the answer to every perceived problem. Keith Bloom agreed with the need for education on the issue but didn't think we needed to harm Pullman business with a new tax. Nathan Weller believed incentives for using reusable bags would be better than a tax.

Based on comments made by Mayor Johnson, there were (predictably) many people from Moscow in attendance. Keith Bloom had the perfect retort. He read from the Moscow Food Co-Op's latest newsletter, in which the Co-Op heartily denounces the evils of plastic bags, but then states the Co-Op is not ready to start charging for them or stop using them. Nothing like leading by example.

The Huskies have a better chance of being in Pasadena on New Year's Day than the plastic bag tax has of being in place in Pullman on New Year's Day.

Dramatic visual aids, like a big ball of plastic bags, are no substitute for hard science and facts.

Poor Ponce de Leon. He thought the secret to immortality was a fountain. Turns out it is a plastic bag.

Speaking of silliness, I have some advice for you "progressives" if you actually want to get things done:

Try showing a little respect and tact. When your side spoke, we listened quietly and didn't interrupt your little "spontaneous" applause session. However, when I was speaking, there was mumbled snide disapprobation from the audience throughout. Most people in attendance were well over 40. You'd think those people wouldn't act like 3rd graders giggling at an assembly. And the highlight of the night was Chris Lupke's dramatic dress-swishing, heel-clicking exit as Councilmember Ann Heath was expressing her disagreement with the proposed bag tax. Lu Laoshi sighed so loud, the whole room heard it. Classy.

For God's sake, get out more. Interact with people that have opposing viewpoints. Mix with the unwashed masses. An older lady wanted to speak with me afterward and just COULDN'T understand where I was coming from. She couldn't have been more flummoxed if I had been speaking Klingon. Michael's "Pauline Kael" column was right on the money. Living in echo chambers is not conducive to public debate. Try to understand your opponents. Validate their arguments. One thing I was always proud of with the Wal-Mart battle was that I felt I could argue both sides equally as well (though not equally factually.)

From KXLY in Spokane:

PULLMAN -- Many shoppers take free grocery bags for granted, but by January, each plastic bag could cost Pullman shoppers $.20 each, if one local group gets its way.

Tuesday night, both sides made their arguments in front of Pullman's city council. One side says recycling doesn't work, and people won't respond unless they are charged. The other side argues a fee will only encourage shoppers to leave town and find less expensive groceries elsewhere.

A chair reserved in the back for a twenty five pound ball of plastic bags was the first indicator of what most people came to talk about at the packed city council meeting. Both sides were allotted 15 minutes to share their opinions. Those with a group called Bring Your Own Bag, Pullman spoke up sharing how other cities including Seattle have implemented fees to reduce the negative environmental impact of plastic bags.

"The plastic bag that you got today at a grocery store is going to be on the planet longer than you are," bag fee supporter Elizabeth Siler said. "That's a kind of immortality that's kind of scary when you think about it."

On the other side, a group called Pullman Consumers for Choice argued that people should be educated, and encouraged to recycle before they are punished with fees.

"Kind of a coercive measure, and I think it's not appropriate for government to do that," bag fee opponent Tony Forbes said. "I think it should be the people that make choices about environment."

No decision was made by city council, but at least two council members spoke up after the discussion saying they would favor more of an educational approach than a fee based approach to reducing the use of plastic bags. A decision will be made later this fall.

No Pullman Plastic Bag Tax Petition Locations

A hardcopy version of the Pullman Consumers for Choice petition asking the Pullman City Council to reject the proposed 20 cents per plastic bag tax is available to sign at the following retailers *UPDATED 8/22 to add Dissmores IGA* :

N22 Nutrition
588 SE Bishop Blvd (Edison Center)
Suite G
Pullman, WA 99163
(N22 Nutrition owner Brian Edwards is a bright, hard-working young entrepreneur. Pullman needs a 100 more like him.)

Radio Shack
588 SE Bishop Blvd (Edison Center)
Suite F
Pullman, WA 99163

Dissmores Hometown Proud IGA
1205 N. Grand Ave.
Pullman, WA 99163

This list will be edited as more locations are added.

Please stop by, sign the petition, and support our local merchants.

Is This The Right Time...

...to add a 20 cent tax to each plastic shopping bag? My family of six went grocery shopping for the week on Sunday, and it took 15 plastic bags to carry home our purchases. With the proposed plastic bag tax, that would have added $3 to our total. Projected out over a year, that's $156 added to our food budget. Who can afford that? We would just drive to Moscow and do our grocery shopping. The plastic bags there are free and we wouldn't spend $3 in gas to get there and back. Sign the online petition to stop this tax here if you haven't already.

The Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for food and beverages jumped 10 points between July 2006 and July 2007, and then leapt nearly 12 points between July 2007 and last month. Prices have slowly increased throughout the year.

According to the index, a dozen eggs cost an average of 51 cents more now than they did a year ago. Red delicious apples are up 38 cents a pound, and white bread costs about 18 cents more per loaf. Chicken and ground beef are more expensive, too, and the price of milk rose almost 5 percent in July alone.

- "Paying more, getting less; Area residents forced to make sacrifices as food prices continue to climb," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, August 16, 2008

Wholesale inflation surged in July, leaving prices for the past year rising at the fastest pace in 27 years, according to government data released Tuesday.

The Labor Department reported that wholesale prices shot up 1.2 percent in July, pushed higher by rising costs for energy, motor vehicles and other products. The increase was more than twice the 0.5 percent gain that economists expected.

(snip)

Food prices rose by 0.3 percent in July after a 1.5 percent surge in June. Beef prices jumped by 7.4 percent, the biggest increase in nearly four years. Milk prices shot up by 5 percent, the biggest gain in a year, while soft drink prices rose by 2.4 percent, the largest increase in four years.

- "Wholesale prices rising at fastest pace since 1981," Seattle Times, August 19, 2008

"Market will solve plastic bag issue "

The editorial board of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News agrees with Pullman Consumers for Choice: let the free market decide what's best on plastic bags, not the nanny state.

From today's Daily News:

Both sides of the plastic grocery bag issue make valid points.

A Pullman group has proposed the city adopt a 20-cent tax or fee on each new bag used for groceries and other retail purchases.

The theory behind the tax is that 20 cents is enough to make consumers think twice about requesting a plastic bag.

The group hopes the converted customers will opt for reusable, environmentally friendly bags to hold purchases.

The other group, the so-called Pullman Consumers for Choice, is opposed to the tax on the grounds that it would hurt low-income residents as well as the local economy because consumers would shop outside Pullman.

Both arguments make sense.

But we've learned that morality can't be legislated and doing nothing won't solve the problem.

Plastic bags, due to their omnipresence, are a problem. They blow into bushes, trees and across yards and parking lots. Most do not readily biodegrade, and they take energy to create.

Carry enough of the bags and the handles can pinch nerves in the hands and fingers. The bags can't hold too much weight and they easily tear.

But that's no reason to tax them.

The answer is to let the market make the choices. Those choices can be greatly influenced by the customer.

Stores use plastic bags because of the convenience, cost and customer choice.

Many stores now offer incentives for alternatives. Most refund a few cents for every reusable bag the customer uses. Some even offer reusable bags at discount prices - usually less than $1 - or for free to encourage customers to switch.

It may take a little longer, but the market is amazingly adaptable if consumers voice their concerns. The process is more user-friendly than a tax or turning your back on the problem.

"Group forms to oppose proposed bag tax; Petition circulating"

We're still looking for more volunteers to gather petition signatures and host petitions at their business. Contact me at palousitics@adelphia.net. And don't forget to sign the online petition if you haven't already here.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

A group of Pullman residents has banded together to fight a proposed local tax on plastic bags. Since going online Monday, 27 signatures have been added to a petition organized by people opposed to a proposed 20-cent tax on plastic bags dispensed at stores throughout the city. The petition was developed in the name of Pullman Consumers for Choice, a group recently created by Businesses and Residents for Economic Opportunity co-founder Tom Forbes specifically to oppose the tax.

The petition claims the tax would hurt lower-income residents already battling high food costs, would negatively affect businesses and the local sales tax base because customers will shop outside Pullman, and would restrict consumer choice. Pullman resident Dwayne Dehlbom was the first to sign the petition.

“I hope it doesn’t pass. It’s another tax we don’t need,” he said. “Putting a tax on bags isn’t right. I just think there are better ways to do it than taxing bags if people are trying to make a point. ... I just think it’s a crock.”

The Pullman City Council received a proposal in early June endorsed by about 80 community members requesting that stores be required to charge the tax on plastic bags. The proposal indicated the nonbiodegradable petroleum bags are bad for the environment, and suggested people get into the habit of carrying reusable bags.

Councilman Bill Paul said he doesn’t support a bag tax at this time, but hopes for a lively discussion on the issue during an Aug. 26 meeting.

“It should be worth a discussion and make people more aware of the waste,” he said. “But we need to raise awareness. We need public input.”

Forbes said he hopes volunteers will soon begin to garner petition signatures outside of Pullman businesses. He also suggests letters to the mayor and council members opposing the tax, and encourages attendance at the meeting later this month.

Forbes said the proposed tax may be well-meaning, but it likely will cause more harm than good as reusable bags are an expense and it can be a hassle remembering to bring them to the store.

He also said it “doesn’t seem fair” to lower income and/or senior citizen residents in the community.

“When we go shopping for my family of six — if we do a large shopping trip — it would be nothing for us to fill up a basket and when we leave to have 20 or 30 plastic bags,” he said. “We were talking about that, and wow, (the tax) would add a lot of expense to our shopping bill. How are (the less affluent) people going to cope with this? How can they afford the reusable bag?”

Forbes also said the tax could overburden the already tender Pullman business economy. “It just really doesn’t seem like a good time for this. In essence, it becomes a food tax,” he said. “This is just going to be one more reason to shop elsewhere.”

Dehlbom agreed.

“A lot of my shopping I already go to Idaho for anyway,” he said. “It would just be another excuse to not shop here.”

Proponents of the tax say it’s not a new idea. They point to the Seattle City Council, which recently approved a 20-cent tax for every plastic bag doled out by a grocery, drug or convenience store. San Francisco and communities throughout Alaska have banned the bags entirely, and China and Ireland have taken similar actions.

Forbes said he’s done his research and found that in Ireland, the ban reduced the free plastic bags by 90 percent, but as an “unintended consequence” the use of packaged, heavier plastic bags increased by 400 percent.

“That’s more plastic resin in the environment,” he said, noting that the proposed tax also may force more shoppers to use paper bags. “Paper bags use a lot more oil to make and transport. And if they’re made from trees, they emit more greenhouse gasses as they decompose. Paper bags end up being worse for the environment.”

Dehlbom said if a tax is approved, he’ll pay the cost rather than bring reusable bags. He said he uses the bags to pick up pet waste and other things outside of hauling groceries.

“I’d still use the bags,” he said. “I don’t care.”

Liz Siler, a member of the group who submitted the bag tax proposal, said she expected there would be some community opposition.

“I knew there would be people that would see it another way,” she said. “In all the places they’ve done taxes and different forms of control like this, there’s been opposition.

“People are free to have a different opinion, and I mean that sincerely,” she added. “But I’m confident that when people hear the reasoning behind our proposal, they’ll understand it’s a good idea.”

The petition can be viewed at www.ipetitions.com/petition/nopullmanplasticbagtax.

Volunteers Needed for Petition Drive

Pullman Consumers for Choice is looking for volunteers to gather petition signatures opposing the proposed 20 cent plastic bag tax. The petition drive will be conducted at various locations around Pullman. The group is also looking for Pullman businesses willing to host copies of the petition within their stores. The petition will be presented to the Pullman City Council at the August 26 meeting. To respond by e-mail, click here.

In the meantime, you can also help oppose the new tax by sending an e-mail to Mayor Johnson the Pullman City Council by clicking here.

Some possible talking points are listed below:

20 cents is too little to make much of a difference to most shoppers, so most will go ahead and pay for plastic bags versus the inconvenience of purchasing and carrying reusable bags. Therefore, at a time of record-high food and energy costs, working families could end up paying about $400 extra annually, according to Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council, a group formed to promote the responsible use and recycling of plastic bags. And Pullman, as a community, will have little to show for it. Wealthy and middle-class won't residents be much affected, but it would be be an unfair burden on Pullman's less affluent citizens such as seniors and college students on a budget. With Americans now facing the steepest increases in food prices in nearly two decades, this is not the time to institute a new tax on groceries.

Senior citizens and less affluent residents will not be able to afford reusable cloth bags for shopping trips.

The 20 cent tax on plastic bags will hurt local Pullman businesses. Winco, Roasuers, Safeway and Wal-Mart, just 8 miles away in Moscow, will not charge for plastic bags. Pullman already suffers nearly $100 million a year in sales tax leakage to neighboring communities. Do we need one more reason to export dollars that could used for our parks, bike paths, and streets to another city?

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the new plastic bag tax in Seattle will cost $500,000 a year to administer. While this figure would be much smaller for Pullman, where in Pullman's cash-strapped budget would the additional money for a new government bureaucracy come from? Proponents of the new tax say the proceeeds will go to organizations such as area food banks.

Plastic bags don't litter, people litter. If this is such a big problem, why not just up the fines for littering or enforce existing littering regulations?

Article I of the Washington State Constitution reads: “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” Forcing individuals into making "correct" choices, therefore, is not the business of government. The number of Pullman residents possessing college and graduate degrees are, per capita, among the highest of any city in the country. Pullman residents are more than capable of making environmentally-conscious decisions on their own without intrusive (and costly) government mandates.

Eliminating plastic grocery bags will have major unintended environmental consequences. Taxing plastic bags will be a de facto paper bag mandate. Increased use of paper bags means an increase in environmental ills including air and water pollution, greater energy and water use and higher greenhouse gas emissions.

It is a complete myth that plastic bags are like "an oil slick on the land" and increase our dependence on foreign oil. Plastic bags are made from ethylene, a byproduct of natural gas. Unlike oil, which the United States currently imports an estimated 70% of, we produce 82% of our own natural gas. The remaining 18% is imported from Canada and Mexico. Manufacturing 100 million paper bags is equivalent to approximately 15,100 barrels of oil plus additional inputs from other energy sources.

Paper bags take at least a gallon of water to produce that bag, more than 20 times the amount used to make a plastic bag.

Most people choose whichever bag they are most likely to reuse, be it paper of plastic. The vast majority of people reuse plastic bags for household tasks like bagging garbage, picking up animal waste, and cleaning up messes. When denied these free plastic bags, consumers simply find them elsewhere. In Ireland, where plastic bags are taxed, sales of heavier plastic bags have gone up 400 percent and the overall amount of plastic resin used in Ireland has actually increased 10 percent.

In a landfill, paper bags, petroleum-based plastic bags and even biodegradable plastic bags share roughly the same fate. Modern landfills are managed for stability, not decomposition. Plastic bags can be better in a landfill because their compact size takes up the least space and, as opposed to biodegradable paper bags, they release zero greenhouse gas emissions.