Walking out of the Harris Teeter at Jenkins Row in SouthEast DC, I didn’t notice I was charged 5 cents for every plastic bag I walked out with until I saw the notice on the door. The Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Act of 2009 signed by Mayor Fenty last July took effect on New Year’s Day. The fee is charged to clean the 20,000 tons of trash in the river each which costs an estimated $50 million annually.
Unlike most taxes, the bag tax does not immediately disgust me. First off, it is consumption based with easy alternatives (i.e. tote bags, reuse), second it was passed by the local politicians which the citizens have the most access to, and third the revenue is used for a specific purpose which is tangible in benefit. However, middle class families and the poor are likely hardest hit by the tax. My other concern is how well will the revenue get administered (this is Marion Barry’s city afterall) and what other laws this act will lead to. Chicago taxes water bottles (but interestingly not unhealthy sodas) and DC has wanted a commuter tax on VA and MD residents for years. Similar to how the DC Smoking Ban has had a domino effect on its neighbors, I wonder if Arlington, which just started an energy panel for the private sector, and the rest of NoVA will be influenced by DC’s new regulations. As politicians try to one up one another in who is the greenest of them all, I fear the citizens will be left feeling blue and in the red.
