Opponents Sue Over Plastic Bag Ban in Marin
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - Buying groceries in unincorporated Marin County? You won't be taking your goodies home in a plastic bag anymore, because of a plastic bag ban now in effect.
But is there a chance the bag ban won't last long? Opponents are contesting it in a state appeals court, requesting a formal environmental impact report and for the ban to be overturned.
"What we're asking for is that the decision to be made on facts, not on misinformation," argued Save the Plastic Bag Coalition spokesman and attorney Stephen Joseph. "That's very much harder to do because environmentalism is more like a religion than it is a science."
"Marin County banned plastic bags, it did so partly on the basis that there was this area twice the size of Texas in the Pacific that was full of plastic bags and plastic bottles," he continued. "But it doesn't exist."
KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:
Also in the Bay Area, a plastic bag ban has gone into effect in the new year in San Jose, where it's way more than just supermarkets affected - some 5,000 retailers have done away with plastic bags.
"I disagree with the policy," one woman said after paying an extra dime for a paper bag for her prescription drugs and other purchases at a downtown San Jose drug store.
Several other customers in the store, however, praised the new policy - and brought reusable bags for their purchases.
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