Baltimore City Considering Plastic Bag Tax
This is a local news story out of Baltimore, MD that could affects all shoppers. In an attempt to clean up the streets of Baltimore of plastic bags, the Baltimore City counsel is proposing 25¢ tax on every bag used in stores. Councilman Bill Henry is the bill’s sponsor and had this to say about the bill:
Those bags end up in our trees, in our fences, eventually in our gutters, in our storm drains, and in our harbor. It would just be easier if people didn’t take them
This comes after Washington D.C. levied a 5¢ on all non-reusable bags. There are some hurdles that councilman Henry faces including objections from several members of the council including the president.
This bill seems really great on the surface: let’s tax a product so that people won’t use it and in turn help our environment. That picture seems really cheery, but the problem is that people should not have to pay for it. It may encourage people to use less plastic bags, but why not start a program to distribute reusable bags or ban plastic bags all together like in Westport Connecticut. Why must we get taxed to help save our environment?
The truth behind bills like these are that the government is trying to get more tax money from people and use the “green” movement as a cover up. In my opinion, lawmakers are acting just as bad as businesses making false green claims just to make a larger profit. They may have better intentions than businesses, but it still ends up hurting the consumers in the end.
Share Your Thoughts
How do you feel about taxing plastic bags and any alternatives (if any) that you may feel are better than a tax.
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