Plastic Bag Tax

Texas House of Representative Rafael Anchia, wants to pass a bill that will tax customers seven cents per plastic shopping received from stores. He wants to join other states that are trying to take action about pollution in our environment. Rafael says, “If people know that there’s an added cost to doing plastic, they’re either going to use paper, which is biodegradable, or they’re going to bring their own bag”. Merchants would receive a small portion of the tax revenue and the rest of the profit would go to cities’ recycling programs. However, San Antonio Senator Leticia Van De Putte’s would like to pass a bill that requires stores to provide recycling bins and reusable shopping bags as a plan B. A current article in San Antonio Express News agrees with these bills. Carlos Guerra, the author of the article talks about how bad plastic bags hurt the environment. He says “A major global problem is the use of flimsy plastic bags by retailers”.

It’s definitely obvious that we need to start doing something about the earth’s pollution. I agree with Carlos that plastic bags are a major problem. I think Rep. Rafael Anchia and Sen. Leticia Van De Putte are at a good start, but I don’t think it is enough. Yes, if one of these bills are passed, it might make people stop and think before using plastic bags, but it won't stop people from using them. In my opinion, this just give more money to the stores that supply the plastic bags and still keeps the bags in the environment. I think they should ban plastic bags all together just like San Francisco and some Alaskan towns have.

Drunk Driving

I recently just read this article about MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). MADD is attempting to pass several bills that help prevent drunk driving. These bills include ignition interlock devices for all drunk drivers, and sobriety checkpoints. If these bills are passed I think it would help make our roads safer to travel on. I have been driving on the highways late at night and have seen several drunk drivers on the road. The police cannot be everywhere at once and I think having stricter laws against drunk driving will help ensure that some people may think twice before they get on the highway after drinking too much. It will not stop everyone but I think it is a step in the right direction the more laws we have in place to stop drunk driving, the more chances we have of saving lives on the highway. Read this article on KXAN’s website. http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/politics/MADD_wants_sobriety_checkpoints_in_TX