Bag tax sacked

August 20th, 2009 at 01:35pm Jennie Pollock

The Seattle effort to cut down on paper and plastic grocery bags was shot down this week by the shoppers (err, voters).

From The Times:

The city hoped the 20-cent charge would encourage Seattle consumers to stop using throwaway shopping bags and instead take their purchases home in recycled bags or reusable totes, reducing waste.

Supporters of the charge pinned the loss on a heavily funded opponent that outspent them 15-to-1, but they said the campaign had laid the grass-roots foundation for future efforts.

“Big money can come in and run deceptive scare campaigns, but in the end, people who care will defeat the people who scare,” said Green Bag Campaign spokesman Brady Montz.

Most of the anti-fee campaign’s $1.4 million came from the Virginia-based American Chemistry Council. Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission staff said that group’s $500,000 contribution in mid-July was the largest for a local ballot measure in recent history.

“I think the results confirm what the coalition has said from the beginning, that it was a costly and unnecessary tax,” said Adam Parmer, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax. “I think you saw Seattle voters saying that this was not the right approach to protecting our environment.”

Entry Filed under: Green politics, In the news, Living without plastic