Monday, February 02, 2009

Kasperzak zings bag lobbyist

The Professor talked himself into a flip-flop, but the Mountain View City Council voted 5-2 to support the County's controversial bag fee. A "representative" of the "affected industries" spoke out against the measure.
After Kinney gave each member 71 single-sided pages of information,
council member Mike Kasperzak said Kinney needed to "cut down on [paper
(sic) waste" with his handouts.

I think Kasperzak has spent the last two years writing and practicing one-liners he'd like to give if reelected to the council.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the Voice failed to properly state that the resolution was only about supporting a study of the issue at the county level. I stated I was fine with the resolution to study but objected to the the first two "whereas" statements which essentially claimed that single use bags were destroying the world. Apparently other council members do not share my sentiments or respect for truthful statements. Given the poor wording of the resolution, I have my doubts as to whether some of the commissioners really want to write a good ordinance.


The Professor

BigDra said...

Single use bags aren't single-handedly destroying the world, but they are pretty bad. So there was no vote on the plastic bag ban. What study is needed? How many county resources will be spent to "study" the impacts of plastic bags which are clearly harmful?

Anonymous said...

please write about this week's Town Crier cover story in which it tries to evoke sympathy for day workers.

Anonymous said...

Bigdra,

I am sure the county is going to approve some sort of ordinance by the end of February. As to harm, I agree if you are talking about other countries. A few years ago I spent my summer solving the housing shortage by building homes in Mexico. Amazed at the # of bags covering the hillsides. I dont see this type of situation in MV, LA, or LAH. If bags are really that bad, we should tax all of them, not just the ones we put purchased items in. Stores sell all types of bags that would be excluded and these are clearly worse than the thin plastic grocery bags.

The Professor

BigDra said...

Thanks for the explanation - always good to hear what our decision makers (the "deciders") are thinking. Plastic bag pollution is awful in a lot of the world, but not in our immediate area. I suppose any sort of measure would be more of a precedent for other places more than anything. What types of other bags are worse than plastic? I also find the plastic bags in the states to be thicker than those elsewhere...

Anonymous said...

Bigdra,

The single use bags are very thin. The other plastic bags on the store shelves are a lot bigger and thicker (garbage can, yard waste, freezer, small trash, etc.) Even the various paper bags are thicker and worse according to both sides.

The Professor