Friday, September 19, 2008

Forces of Evil in a Bozo Nightmare

Hey, its Johnny from San Diego back to recap wh'appen (hey can you believe The Beat are back together as a band) with the groundbreaking legislation that was surely going to be passed in Sacramento this year reducing plastic single use shopping bags through the imposition of a fee and lifting the moratorium on localities charging a bag fee. It looked like AB 2058 had died a quiet death to many of us when it didn't make it to the Senate floor for a vote. There was much despair in the enviro community including a threat to wear a plastic bag by at least one over his head when 2058 fizzled. What transpired had intrigue that was nothing short of a John Le Carre novel, okay this is Sacramento we are talking about but it was pretty interesting. "It's Alive!" we cried when AB 2679 was gutted and brought back to life as a plastic bags bill. Lloyd Levine was the Re-Animator! We rejoiced! The new bill had everything we wanted, including a fee for plastic and paper bags as well an exemption for low income shoppers, not to mention grocer support. We fell in love wth AB 2679, but like the summer wind it too was gone never having made it to the Senate floor like its predecessor. The forces of evil won on that day but they must realize that the tide is turning against them and we will come back stronger and more resolute in January.