L.A. City Council Vote, Not in the Bag…Yet
The Los Angeles City Council heard testimony from over 60 people today on the long-awaited single-use plastic bag ban. The environmental community was well represented and attired in natty green. Other supporters included reusable bag manufacturers, the California Grocers Assn., the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, and 17 neighborhood councils! Clearly, a life without single-use plastic bags is a popular movement that has grown well beyond L.A. County, Long Beach, Malibu, Santa Monica Calabasas and other SoCal cities.
Opposition was provided by bag man Stephen “This bag is more than a toy” Joseph and Crown Poly bag manufacturing staff. Joseph tried to tie the city council vote to California’s ranking by industry titans as the place they’d least likely want to do business. I’m not sure where the ranking came from, but Joseph did say that Texas was No. 1. Enough said.
Thanks to a prior commitment to the environmental community from Council President Eric Garcetti, the City Council heard the testimony. However, members were uncomfortable taking action without the bag ban first going through the Energy and Environment Committee.
