Should Portland's Bag Ban Include a Charge for Paper? Leonard, Saltzman Skeptical

Portland Mercury:

Nearly a year after Portland joined a growing list of cities with full or partial bans on reusable plastic bags, Mayor Sam Adams and the city's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability are plotting some so-called "next steps" for the not-so-controversial program that might, actually, be fairly contentious. Firm resistance to one of those ideas—charging shoppers 5 cents for every paper bag they use—erupted from City Commissioners Randy Leonard and Dan Saltzman during testimony this morning on a report charting how well the ban's first year went. "I want to understand why, all of the sudden, paper bags have become synonymous with plastic bags," Leonard said, later suggesting that BPS had contracted a bad case of "mission creep." "We were focused on eliminating plastic bags and now the argument seems to have expanded." Saltzman then said he supported the ban specifically because it didn't target the paper bag industry, which "employs people" locally (timber industry talking points, anyone?): "I want to take this opportunity to say that I don't believe it's a good time to be taxing food. Period... That's what it is." The report did have some good news: [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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