I honestly lived in the fantasy world that once residents of Huntington Beach wisely got rid of Keith Bohr, that his Agenda 21 revolution to take over the City would go with him.
Sadly, this was evidently wishful thinking on my part. The "live, eat, drink, work" debacle over at Bella Terra was a pet project, as of course, was his "microchip and spay/neuter every dog and cat in the city or go to jail" law he tried to get passed.
A while ago, the city proposed implementing a ban on plastic and brown paper bags. You just have to wonder how many of the City Council are stuck on stupid. I thought the citizenry had gotten this law tossed (or at least kept it from being implemented), but no. I was in Ralphs' today where a huge sign let us know that our wonderful, progressive, we'll do the thinking for you, because you the Huntington Beach taxpayer, is too stupid to think for yourself, City Council implemented a ban on plastic AND paper bags in the City.
Effective November 1.
You won't be able to get a plastic bag in town (does that mean they are banned at the swap meet too??) and you'll have to PAY 10cents a paper bag which goes to the city's coffers.
I hope it makes up for the decrease in revenue which the city will see. Like DUH. You don't even have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Do they think we are TOO STUPID to cross the street (literally) and shop in Fountain Valley? Or even more logical: are you likely to buy MORE or LESS, if you have to worry about whether or not it is going to fit in your reusable bags?
Los Angeles county has had a ban in place for nearly two years, but not in every city.
What have been the results?
In the towns where the ban is in place, revenue has decreased 5.7 percent, while in towns where the ban is NOT in effect, sales have increased 6-9 percent.*
In towns where the ban IS in place, EVERY STORE had to terminate some of its staff, lowering their staff count by 10 percent. In the towns where the ban was NOT in place, not only did they NOT let people go, they increased their staff count by 2.4 percent.*
So if those stats hold true for Huntington Beach, sales (or more importantly for the City, sales tax) will be down what, $1 million, $2 million a year, and about 200 people will be out of work?
GREAT TRADEOFF <sarcasm dripping>, "just so we can be green."
But of course, we should all be reducing our carbon footprint right? Minimizing our impact on the earth? Everyone would likely agree with that statement, but it is a FALSE premise.
Did you know for the average household grocery burden*:
Plastic bags produce 15.5 pounds of waste(d) material
Paper bags produce 75 pounds of waste(d) material
Reusable bags are the worst offenders of all: they have to be used at least 104 times to be less wasteful in terms of material, off gases and waste. That means you would have to use them twice a week for a year (driving there twice a week mind you!), or used once a week for two years just to break even on the carbon footprint.
On average? A reusable bag gets used 52 times before it is thrown away.
So exactly WHERE is it we are "going green?"
There must be a lot of "green" going in to our city council's pocketbooks. Or else they are trying to take more "green" out of your pocketbook, so you will be more dependent on them.
Which is exactly the agenda of Agenda 21.
Rise up Huntington Beach. Take back your town.
*National Center for Policy Analysis, A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County's Plastic Bag Ban, Pamela Villereal and Baruch Feigenbaum, Policy Report No. 340, August 2012. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st340
Kathryn, please join us on Huntington Beach Community Forum. We would really love to have you with us.
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