The big problem here is the big stores don’t have the option to “buy out” of the ordinance. What a pity. By the way, the smaller stores will be placed under the ordinance if it passes and time goes by long enough for the people to get used to it. Then City Council will strike again.

Does any of this Machiavellian tap-dancing benefit the people who pay for it all? Well, it seems there have been some studies conducted to answer this question. One of these was by the National Center For Policy Analysis. If you want to know the truth of the effect on localities that pass a plastic bag ban, go to www.ncpa.org/media/the-economic-effect-of-plastic-bag-bans. Here, you will find no propaganda about how bad plastic bags are to people and the environment. Here, you will find the truth about what happens when a bag ban goes into effect: decrease in sales at targeted stores (-5.7 percent), increase at nontargeted stores (9 percent) and possible negative effect on employment at effected stores. Check it out.

Thanks, Durango City Council. Not!

Paul Bynum

Durango