Bag ban pushback

Any regular reader of The Times’ opinion pages knows that our letter writers tend to be an environmentally conscious bunch (several include as a postscript to their e-mailed messages, “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail”). So ever since other cities started passing bans on plastic grocery bags and Los Angeles officials began weighing such a law, most letters have supported doing away with this environmental menace.

But something changed after the City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a ban, which will make L.A. by far the largest city in the U.S. to go without plastic bags. About half of the roughly three dozen letters we’ve received on the topic disagreed with the City Council, an unusually large share to take that side on this issue. Some spoke up in defense of the plastic bag, while others questioned some of the ordinance’s finer print. Here is a selection of those letters.

—Paul Thornton, letters editor

Daniel A. Cowell of Monrovia says there are more pressing environmental concerns:

“The ban on plastic bags in Los Angeles is a small victory for the environment and a large victory for grocery stores and the City Council. Not only will supermarkets no longer have to pay to supply plastic bags, they will also be pocketing a profit on each paper sack sold. An action like this makes one wonder what happened behind closed doors.

“If these council members truly want to be ‘environmentally friendly’ and not just considered so by their constituents, they need to shift their energy toward diminishing the massive amounts of fast-food waste, cigarette butts and paper that are littered and landfilled at a far more alarming rate than plastic bags.

“Indeed, these issues are a challenge to embark upon. But this time, our leaders took the easier, less effective route, all while saving face.”

North Hollywood resident Walter Hall wants the City Council’s ear:

“Decades ago, I lived in a much smaller city than Los Angeles. Then, my city council member valued the constituency’s opinions and proactively sought them out.

“Los Angeles council members instead respond to special interests, celebrities and the moneyed elite. The two times I shared my opinions with my present council member, I failed to receive even the courtesy of an acknowledgment.

“Has anyone asked the hardworking residents of Los Angeles, especially those using public transportation, their thoughts about banning plastic grocery bags, many of which are used more than just one time?

“And people wonder why city elections are ignored by three-fourths of the voters.”

Ellen Sharlin of Encino asks: What about the dogs? And the babies?

“I guess we’ll need to purchase boxed plastic bags to hold our kitchen garbage, but I wonder what my friends will do when walking their dogs.

“And what will parents use at the park, the mall and elsewhere when they need to dispose of soiled diapers?”

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