Look Into the Eyes of the Enemy

No, I jest. That would be rude. But seriously, homeboy here does have some issues.

This gentleman is Stephen L. Joseph, head of the controversial Save the Plastic Bag campaign and the focus of a recent article in Time Magazine. An attorney with a history behind him of fighting graffiti and litter and waging all-out war against trans-fats, he has mystifyingly turned his sites toward the uphill battle that is preserving the rights of the disposable plastic bag.

The former Washington lobbyist, who was born in England and reluctantly gives his age as 50-something, admits it’s an uphill battle trying to improve the image of a throwaway item that has been tied to everything from global warming to dependence on oil and the death of marine life. Especially in California. Particularly in ultra-liberal Marin County. It took him more than a year after the bag manufacturers came calling to take on the cause. “It’s very challenging to counter the myths and misinformation,” he says from his Tiburon, Calif., law offices. “I’m a one-man show.”

Joseph’s Save the Plastic Bag website is extremely comprehensive, with page after page in defense of the plastic bag, or at least in defense of the plastic bag not being quite as bad as its alternatives. This is where Joseph really shines with the prowess of a defense attorney in court, battling for his team at the expense of sound argument.

How can a former anti-litter activist support plastic bags? Joseph points out, and some environmentalists agree, that in many ways paper bags are just as bad for the environment as plastic ones. While paper bags decompose, they also release methane while doing so. While plastic bags are sometimes made with petrochemicals, paper bags require more energy to be made and recycled. The evidence that plastic bags kill marine life is not conclusive, and it’s generally acknowledged that the detritus from commercial fishing is much more damaging. “My research into this issue has proved to me that something funny is going on,” says Joseph. “The anti-plastic-bag campaigners are not being challenged. It’s like a court case where nobody’s representing the other side.”

Well, that is a beautiful tu quoque defense which basically amounts to, “yes, perhaps we’re bad, but we are not as bad as the other guys!” Should we be jumping with joy because plastic bags don’t harbor cockroaches? Maybe we should, because cockroaches are abhorrent, but any environmental activist worth their salt will tell you that paper bags are far from a satisfactory solution. When a practical solution is mentioned, Joseph’s arguments start to crack at the seams.

Against the use of cloth shopping bags, however, or the string type his grandmother might have taken to the high street, Joseph has fewer arguments. Plastic bags make handy trash-can liners, he says, or receptacles for cat litter. And, of course, they can be reused to hold shopping. “Do you know what I think is the best thing about them? You can shove about 12 of them in your glove compartment.”

Ah yes, there it is. Back to the old “cat litter” argument. And of course, plastic bags can be reused for shopping… once or twice, if they haven’t torn yet, or gotten dirty or leaked on. (Limp, filmy bags are not the easiest things to wash in the sink, and they certainly aren’t dishwasher-safe.) Of course, to not reuse disposable bags at all would be practically criminal once you have them at your disposal, but shouldn’t it be a goal to cut down? Even if, somehow, plastic bags aren’t the worst pollution plaguing our country, wouldn’t we see benefits in the long run from cutting out even a small aspect of our problem?

Joseph doesn’t seem to think so, asserting that above all he is fighting for truth. So that’s interesting. Keep dreaming the impossible dream, Don Josef, and fight that good fight for the honor of the plastic bag. Try not to hurt yourself.

…and a hat tip to World on the Web!

Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 9:09 am and is filed under The Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.