09-21-2008, 03:24 AM
Dick, that's commendable. There are a surprising number of people that do, and anyone can make real attempts to make real progress on their own. In fact, as far as I can see it, that's the only kind of progress that will make progress.
I would not support this bag ban for a very simple reason. I think it is completely unfair to mandate reform and burden business with new hoops of compliance unless this burden is offset in a real and measurable way by a positive environmental impact. In short, the hassle must be worth it. I don't see this bag ban as nearly approaching that metric. It may be a "step in the right direction" as some might say, but a precious tiny one. As such, the only real result that's likely to come out of the bag ban is yet a higher level of resentment among the non-environmentally conscious crowd and a higher level of resistance to actually meaningful reform. There is a serious problem, and pain in the butt regulation will often come up as the first reason people are not active or hostile to environmental concerns.
I would not support this bag ban for a very simple reason. I think it is completely unfair to mandate reform and burden business with new hoops of compliance unless this burden is offset in a real and measurable way by a positive environmental impact. In short, the hassle must be worth it. I don't see this bag ban as nearly approaching that metric. It may be a "step in the right direction" as some might say, but a precious tiny one. As such, the only real result that's likely to come out of the bag ban is yet a higher level of resentment among the non-environmentally conscious crowd and a higher level of resistance to actually meaningful reform. There is a serious problem, and pain in the butt regulation will often come up as the first reason people are not active or hostile to environmental concerns.