Yes, this is real: Michigan just banned banning plastic bags

[DonViejo]

By Chelsea Harvey December 30 at 9:29 AM

A new law in Michigan will prohibit local governments from banning, regulating or imposing fees on the use of plastic bags and other containers. You read that correctly: It’s not a ban on plastic bags — it’s a ban on banning plastic bags.

Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed the new public act into law on Wednesday, along with 11 other bills. Gov. Rick Snyder is currently on vacation out of state, local news sources reported, and Calley has the authority to sign bills into law in his absence.

The new public act prohibits local ordinances from “regulating the use, disposition, or sale of, prohibiting or restricting, or imposing any fee, charge, or tax on certain containers,” including plastic bags, as well as cups, bottles and other forms of packaging. This means individual cities and municipalities are not allowed to ban plastic bags or charge customers a fee for using them.

Bans and restrictions on the use of plastic bags are widespread in other parts of the country and around the world. The rationale is simple: Plastic bags are infamous non-biodegradable sources of pollution — although they will eventually break down into tiny pieces, scientists believe this process can take hundreds of years, or even up to a millennium, in landfills.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/30/yes-this-is-real-michigan-just-banned-banning-plastic-bags/?utm_term=.39f9dde03fcd&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1

[cwydro]

1. Every state should ban plastic bags.

They are poison to the environment.

In Europe people know to bring their own bags, or they have to pay a small amount for a bag.

Apparently, as usual, we're taking giant steps backward, sigh.

[DonViejo]

5. Every state should do what, ban the banning of plastic bags?

[cwydro]

11. Lol, I see I read too fast.

Thanks for letting me know, and I'll edit!

[RKP5637]

2. Some days you start to feel fuck it all, it's hopeless, you can't soar like an eagle when flying

along in the US with a bunch of turkeys.

[LisaM]

3. Lunatics.

Ann Arbor had a ban all set to go into effect, too.

[roamer65]

15. Retailers can just stop using them if they like.

On small purchases now I quite often say no thanks to bags. Don't need them to carry a few things.

[LisaM]

18. I ride the bus a lot, so I do need bags.

But most places have paper ones (Seattle) that I can re-use and/or recycle.

[BigDemVoter]

27. Same here. I live in San Francisco.

We no longer have plastic bags, and we have to pay 10 cents for a paper bag. I always bring my own, but if I don't, it doesn't kill me to pay 10 or 20 cents.

I used to use the plastic grocery bags to pick up dog poop. Now that they are no longer available here, I can get biodegradable bags online.

Some people may bitch about the "nanny state", but this is the best thing for the environment, and we need to protect it.

[DBoon]

29. I'd rather have the "nanny state"

than the brutal abusive father state

[Motley13]

4. they can get into the Flint river,so what's the problem?

[FarCenter]

6. There is very little material in a plastic bag. It takes about 200 to weigh a kilogram.

And what little material there is usefully sequesters carbon in the landfill.

[Johnathan146]

16. And I use them in my trash cans

If they ban them, I'll just buy plastic trash bags instead, so at least now the grocery store I go is footing the bill for the bags.

[stopbush]

26. Yep. I'm surprised at this bandwagon.

First off, most landfills today have a poly liner to keep toxins from leeching into the soil. That would include plastic bags.

Second, when it comes to volume, paper bags are a much bigger problem, literally. I read that it takes seven trucks of paper bags to equal one truck's- worth of plastic bags.

We need to ban paper bags if we're banning anything. Best solution is reusable bags, like we do here in CA.

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. It doesn't 'sequester' carbon; it encourages oil drilling to provide the carbon

The net result is to extract hydrocarbons from a deep, stable deposit, use some energy to manufacture it, and then leave it in an unstable surface dump. Or it might end up in an ocean.

[Freethinker65]

7. How long before they repeal the 10 cent deposit return?

[roamer65]

14. That won't happen.

That law cleaned up the freeways immensely. If someone litters a returnable, it doesn't last long.

[Vinca]

8. What do you expect? It's Michigan. People need the bags to carry their bottled water.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. That made me laugh...

and feel sad at the same time.

[TheFrenchRazor]

9. yeah, small government... right. nt

[Angry Dragon]

12. they only like small government when it comes to corps

they like laws restricting people

[Angry Dragon]

10. a good use for hemp

[LunaSea]

17. Michigan Governor smothered by mountain of polymer.....

That would be a terrible headline....but I'd be willing to sent him my household accumulation of the damned things, since he's quite the fan.

[Me.]

19. Nevermind That....

“Researchers found that nearly 10,000 metric tons — or 22 million pounds — of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes every year from the United States and Canada. The news represents a setback to efforts to clean the lakes, which have received support from recent legislation.”

http://247wallst.com/economy/2016/12/24/10000-tons-of-plastic-dumped-into-great-lakes-each-year/

[marlakay]

20. They tried to undo it in CA by making us vote for it

And we did, overwhelmingly we wanted to help the environment. I am proud of my state.

I have been using canvas bags for years, bought them for my kids and husband. Buy cute ones that say fun things so they want to use. I have one that says, my bookclub only reads wine labels.

My husbands says "my wife gave me this to help the environment". He says the clerks laugh at it.

[MrScorpio]

21. Welcome to Republican Hell

FDT.

[QED]

22. The Arizona Legislature did the same thing

after progressive Tempe passed a ban.

[Cha]

33. So can they still ban them in Tempe? I imagine Tucson

is Progressive, too, no?

[QED]

34. I don't think so.

What gets me is that people claim to be fed up with our RW Legislature but most incumbents won reelection.

[Oneironaut]

23. That's total nonsense. Otherwise, every bill ever would have a ban on banning it.

This would lead to archaic laws still being on the books 100 years past their actual use. I'm no law student, but I can't imagine this is even valid.

One would also think you could just repeal the ban-ban. I'm glad to see state government time is being put to good use these days.

[LAS14]

24. And so it begins...

[JSup]

25. So, when...

...libs get into power do we institute a ban on pre-emptive bans of bans?

Or try to get an amendment so that States could stop smothering local government.

[csziggy]

28. The cities that want to ban the bags should collect and deliver them to the governor

If he won't let the local governments make their own choices about these things, then HE and his pet legislators can do something with all the bags.

On the other hand, individuals can work towards cutting the use of plastic bags. My husband and I take re-usable bags with us and seldom get plastic bags. In fact we have to plan to pick up some plastic and some paper bags since we use the ones we do bring home to line our garbage cans rather than purchase plastic can liners. Our kitchen cans are sized to fit paper grocery sacks, the plastic bags are for the bathroom and family room cans. We only change the bags when they start to come apart or if something sticky ends up in them, so that is maybe two bags a year per garbage can.

The excess plastic bags and foam containers are bagged right now to take and put into the recycling bin at the grocery store. We hauled garbage to the dump today - five large cans of recycling, one large can of garbage, and two items (broken microwave and iron) to the electronic recycling area. That is two months' worth of trash from our house.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

31. What next? Ban the banning of lead in tap water? n/t

[Cha]

32. We banned them for real in Hawaii.. we care about our environment and

the Planet's.

The greasy greedy repubs in Michigan don't.