Plastic bags are a scourge on the globe. From the plastic ocean in 
the Pacific, to the stomachs of choked birds, to the fences of highways, the billions of annual bags are infrequently reused or recycled and often don’t even make it into the dump.
DC faces increasing levels of pollution on the Anacostia River.
“The Anacostia River is one of the most polluted in the country,” [Councilwoman Mary] Cheh said. “The level of trash in the river has become so bad that if nothing is done, the district could be fined tens of millions of dollars by the EPA.”
With a high percentage of collected trash being a rainbow of colors of plastic bags, the Washington, DC, City Council voted earlier today to institute a five-cent fee for bags to help drive reduced use and, as well, to help raise funds for the cleaning of the Anacostia River.
Council member Jack Evans said the bill can be viewed as a “first step” toward the long-term goal of severely limiting plastic bags and bottles nationwide.
“There is not a river I go to, a park I go, a stream I go to, where I don’t see plastic bags everywhere,” Evans (D-Ward 2) said. “The fact is our country is becoming inundated with plastic bags and plastic bottles. . . . This is the first step to try to address this issue.”
The bill, passed unanimously by the 13-member Council, actually has a thoughtfully innovative element: rewarding businesses for giving discounts for those who bring in their own bags.
Under the plastic bag legislation, called the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act, businesses would keep a penny for each bag sold, and the other four cents would go into a fund to clean up the Anacostia. If businesses offer a discount to consumers who bring reusable bags, they would get to keep two cents for each bag sold.
Who stood up to fight this step toward a sustainable DC?
The plastics industry, several local businesses and the D.C. Republican Party opposed the tax. Critics said it would disproportionately affect the city’s poorest residents. The city GOP sent out a statement yesterday accusing the council of imposing a $9.5 million tax on District residents.
Isn’t it nice to see that the GOP is so concerned about the city’s poor?
Re the Anacostia River, see Earth Conservation Corps.
For a perspective, see Notions Capitol, Shopping Bag Bill — Elitism or Environmentalism?