Delaying the inevitable on plastic bags

Disposable plastic shopping bags are likely bound for history's trash heap, but it appears Virginia lawmakers are going to cling to them until the last possible moment.

Last week, a House of Delegates subcommittee killed the last of three bills addressing an aspect of our throwaway culture that poses multiple threats to the environment, as well as to agriculture and tourism.

A bill calling for an outright ban on most types of plastic bags - similar to one approved by North Carolina legislators for the Outer Banks - was tabled earlier this month. Two other versions - one imposing a 5-cent tax on each plastic and paper bag and the other a 20-cent tax on plastic - were dispatched by a subcommittee in Richmond last week.

It's becoming a yearly ritual for members of the General Assembly to dismiss restrictions on bags as too radical or silly to contemplate - despite the fact that Virginia's neighbors and various communities around the country are embracing the idea. Maryland lawmakers are considering restrictions now.

A broad coalition of groups, including the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the Sierra Club and the Garden Club of Virginia, support limits of some type. Many consumers, aware of the damage caused by plastic bags, are switching to durable, reusable ones.

Washington, D.C., imposed a 5-cent tax on disposable plastic bags a year ago, with proceeds going toward cleanup of the Anacostia River. City officials estimate usage has fallen by 80 percent, according to The Washington Post.

A similar measure was introduced by Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, who proposed that revenue from his 5-cent tax proposal go to the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund.

But the primary goal of these measures isn't to generate money. It's to reduce the prevalence of bags that harm livestock, wild animals and marine life; get entangled in farm machinery; accumulate on roadways and in fields and trees; pollute waterways; consume enormous amounts of energy to produce, and take up space in expensive, overburdened landfills.

Given the number of countries now restricting plastic bags - at least 24 - it's likely more communities in the United States will introduce limits or bans. Eventually, Virginia will become one of them, although it may not be before the current crop of lawmakers becomes history.