Assembly 2011: Fees for plastic bags die in General Assembly
A fee for the use of plastic bags in Virginia has been killed again in the General Assembly, but as Charles Fishburne reports, opponents to the bags say they will be back.
You see them everywhere, and opponents say, that’s just the problem.
Morrissey: Every year, two billion, that's with a B, plastic bags find their way into Virginia landfills and our rivers, and it takes over 50 years for those bags to decompose.
Delegate Joe Morrissey says 26 countries have banned them and several US cities have slapped a five-cent fee on them, which was what he wanted to do, but he says his legislation died because they are cheap for retailers and lucrative for the chemical companies who make them.
Morrissey: I'll come back with this legislation. We picked up more votes this time and we'll pick up more votes next time, until ultimately it's passed.
DC has imposed a five-cent fee; California’s LA County calls them 'urban tumbleweed' and has banned them, and there is some traction across the country to get rid of plastic bags.
Morrissey: It is a no-brainer.
They’ll try again next year.
Charles Fishburne, WCVE News
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