Basnight's Bid To Ban Plastic Bags Rallies Foes
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Updated: 1:57 PM Jun 10, 2009
Basnight's Bid To Ban Plastic Bags Rallies Foes
Businesses that fear losing sales if North Carolina bars large Outer Banks stores from giving away plastic grocery bags are mobilizing against the brainchild of the state Senate's powerful leader.
Posted: 9:08 PM Jun 9, 2009
Reporter: Dave Jordan
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Businesses that fear losing sales if North Carolina bars large Outer Banks stores from giving away plastic grocery bags are mobilizing against the brainchild of the state Senate's powerful leader.

Representatives of plastics, chemical and other companies said
Tuesday they opposed the pilot program that already passed the
Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Senate leader Marc Basnight of Dare County, was still approved by the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Supporters said discarded bags are especially a problem on barrier islands, where litter is more obvious and sea animals more likely to confuse the floating bags with jellyfish and eat them.

Advocates think the ban sought by Basnight could later spread
statewide. That concerns business interests.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Cactus Location: Strabane on Jun 10, 2009 at 07:26 PM

Until "people" learn to police themselves then there has to be someone that will. Plastic bags and bottles live on for almost forever but paper will decay in water and on shore. So make up your mind, police yourselves or be policed by a government agency. The choice is yours. The reusable bag does not have to washed each separately, but with the Monday wash loads.
Posted by: Gator Location: NC on Jun 10, 2009 at 04:58 PM

The one thing that people have to remember is that the tree huggers, ecology nuts, and such are to blame for the plastic bags. They are the ones who complained about cutting down trees. So everybody went to plastic bags. Now they are complaining about the plastic bags. What's next, complaining about R-134.
Posted by: Scooter Location: Washington on Jun 10, 2009 at 04:54 PM

This is just another example of the liberal nanny state trying to regulate every facet of our lives. They obviously care nothing about commerce and the effect this would have on the stores. Plastic bags can be used as waste bags in small trash receptacles around the house instead of buying bags for that purpose. Those brown "recycled" bags only need a little bit of post consumer content to earn the label so all you tree huggers are getting duped. Those reusable bags the stores sell are terrible for retaining bacteria. Do you all seriously want to wash those things every time you visit the market? What about all that extra soap and water you'll be wasting by trying to save the planet? Basnight needs to keep his mouth shut and go back to things he is good at like fleecing the state and picking our pockets.
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