The rulemaking is an emergency because everything is done on an emergency basis, up to and including National Peach Month.

There are already similar waivers in place for elected members of Congress, who may use their home state licenses and plates. Also certain Congressional staff members, and members of the military who have been assigned to the area.

Why we have to do this for new jurists is something I cannot explain.

by Mike Silverstein on Jan 24, 2009 4:01 pm • link • report

The only definitive, inarguable environmental benefit to paper over plastic is that plastic, which we can use when extremely thin, tends to become part of a fluid mixture - in air or in water, it's light enough to float around in the turbulence, making it a disproportionate hassle to the important sea-level & ground-level elevations and perhaps justifying a moderate (say, 25 cents?) legislated rebate, backed by a copywritten logo & robust fraud prohibitions. Being composed of very light plastic doesn't just mean it uses raw material, it means you can cover up a great deal of ground with a life/water/nutrient/solar impermeable layer almost accidentally. Paper doesn't have this problem, because it absorbs water and settles down to become part of the soil (and yes, decomp does take place - on biologically & geologically useful, rather than anthropologically useful timespans).

by Squalish on Jan 24, 2009 4:25 pm • link • report

shouldn't we be charged for both plastic and paper? Throwing away paper might not be as bad as throwing away plastic, but it's not so good either. We should reuse paper bags as much as possible, just as we should plastic.

One day the connection between the goals of this blog and recycling will be made in a big way. But it hasn't yet. If you want to talk density, then it seems you have to talk about the three r's just as frequently. There's no way around it. It's a matter of space.

by Jazzy on Jan 24, 2009 4:44 pm • link • report

Bringing your own reusable bag works very well for families that drive to the supermarket once a week and can keep some bags in the trunk of their car, but in David's fantasy world, rather than driving to do a weekly shopping, we would be shopping for our families more frequently, stopping off (on foot) at a local grocery near our Metro stop or bus stop on the way home from work or other activities. So, to avoid being penalized, we would have to carry our reusable grocery bags with us everywhere we walk most days, and probably also have to carry bags with us all the time to deal with impulse purchases.

by JW on Jan 24, 2009 5:30 pm • link • report

I try to bring my plastic bags back when I can, but they do break eventually. Perhaps a fabric one would be a better idea, if a little bulkier to lug around.

JW: When you live in a walkable area, the stores are close by enough that there's less need to combine trips. You're right though, I have ended up using new bags when I bought more than I'd planned on. A couple plastic bags will easily fit in a pocket, allowing for the possibility of a stop...

by Scott on Jan 24, 2009 6:12 pm • link • report

The job of a judge can require a lot of driving. (I know one who puts in 600 miles a week.) Assignments are not always stationary and permanent. Judges may have a residence in the District, and spend part of their time at their original home, elsewhere in the country.

For whatever reason (and there are many legitimate reasons), judges may need to maintain their driver's license in their home state. Yet, for the time they're living in the District, they also need to park their cars somewhere. (In order to get a D.C. residential parking permit, you need to register your car in D.C., right?)

I don't see a problem with this.

by John on Jan 24, 2009 7:46 pm • link • report

If you want to get rid of the disposable bags in supermarkets, you just have to start charging for them. In Europe, a plastic bag (a decent one) will cost you a buck a pop. There are no paper bags. All the arguments I see here were used when they started started charging for bags.

In the end, virtually everybody now has cotton grocery bags. Quite frankly, they fit well in the pocket of a coat, or in your backpack.

In regular retail, it has been found that *just* *asking* whether someone needs a bag in stead of standardly offering one, reduced the amount of bags given out enormously.

I don't understand how struggling retailers in the US haven't jumped on this money-saver.

Retailers generally don't care much for the environment. But they do care about their wallet. The problem is that nobody wants to be the first. So, you need a little nudge from the government.

by Jasper on Jan 24, 2009 8:03 pm • link • report

JW, on the idea of stopping off for impulse purchases or on the way home from somewhere else - I do it often. I just only buy so much that I can carry (and I also usually carry a bag, so stuffing my grocery bag in it isn't a big deal). I also find that while walking it much easier for me to carry 4 or 5 things in my hands, my pockets, or my bag than it is to carry either paper or plastic bags that the stores provide. It's a matter of realizing that you might stop somewhere and planning for that, either by carrying a bag with you or carrying your purchases by hand (I can carry a lot more than I thought I could since I only have to walk half a mile or so).

by Chris on Jan 24, 2009 9:46 pm • link • report

JW: what's the big deal? I do most of my shopping on the way home from work, and it isn't that hard to make a folded shopping bag (even an especially sturdy, hence indefinitely reusable, plastic bag from a local liquor store) part of my kit along with notepad, appointment calendar, current reading material, etc. And in "David's fantasy world" of walking-distance stores where my family and I actually live, we keep a few shopping bags on the coat rack right by the front door and grab them on the way when we go out shopping, one if on foot, a bunch if headed by car to the supermarket once every few weeks. All this is far less of a hassle than the huge masses of plastic bags we used to have to deal with - in fact, that's why we developed these habits.

Sheesh!

by david on Jan 24, 2009 10:38 pm • link • report

Incentives matter. If supermarkets are willing to absorb the costs of the bags or bundle them across the goods sold in their store so that they are infintesmially low, then why blame customers for taking them?

And at that point, the bags aren't any different than other pieces of garbage.

Sounds like a non-issue here.

by MPC on Jan 25, 2009 1:19 am • link • report

How is a judge's (or spouse's) travel more holy than anyone else's? The rule should apply to everyone, not just judges, who can't decide where they live but want the parking perk everywhere they go anyway.

by Turnip on Jan 25, 2009 2:36 am • link • report

While reusable bags are great for some people, for others it would not only be inconvenient but not result in any "eco-savings". When asked whether I prefer paper or plastic at the grocery store, I always take a second to think ... "Which of the two am I almost out of?"

You see, I use the paper bags to collect my recyclables in the house. And I use the plastic bags to "scoop up" after the dogs. As such both types of bags are needed in my house. Both types are effectively "recycled" ... and both types would have to be separately purchased if I didn't already have them on hand. There are lots of ways we can individually be creatively environmentally-friendly ... without expecting someone (i.e., a government bureaucrat) to mandate it on us.

by Lance on Jan 25, 2009 12:11 pm • link • report

re: the licensing issue ...

I don't know all the facts, but I do know that (1) Like Mike says, "emergency" legislation in the District long ago stopped being used for true emergencies. Because the home rule charter only gives the District the right to pass legislation which takes effect immediately IF it is an emergency, the Council routinely labels lots of legislation "emergency" ... and avoids the long wait that non-emergency legislatin entails while the feds get their revue and veto period.

(2) It used to be that you didn't have to have DC plates to avail yourself of residential parking stickers. By law (federal law), people who haven't moved to the District to live here but rather to temporarily inhabit the District in the course of their normal duties ... such as is the case for federal appointees, congressmen, their staffs, military personnel, etc. (as well as students) don't have to get DC plates and DC licenses, because they're not giving up their status as residents of their home states. They're here just temporarily living in the capital. And they're not residents in the sense of this being their "home." So, traditionally, they were allowed to get residential parking stickers even though they had out-of-state plates and out-of-state drivers licenses ... Things that are normally required to maintain one's residency in one's home state. HOWEVER, I heard from someone recently who was a similar situation that our DMV is now requiring that a car have DC plates in order for parking sticker to be issued. If that is really the case, then these folks (without the legislation) are being put in a catch-22 situation. They can't both hold on to their home residency ... and get residential parking stickers. Of course, that's just my guess. And like I've said before, personally, I like David's idea of pricing our curb parking such preference is given to people who are using it to go about their daily business vs. people using it as storage while they're home or at work. (We need more off street parking to handle are car storage needs.)

by Lance on Jan 25, 2009 12:29 pm • link • report

If anyone wants to bring a test case into the Federal courts, this sure isn't the one to pick. Just the thing to get on the right side of the judge.

by Ben Ross on Jan 25, 2009 8:03 pm • link • report

Re: grocery bags, retailers see them as advertising, so worth wasting. I hate seeing the plastic ones in the trees after a windy day, but then again, I use them as garbage bags in my house.

Re:Mall, we should not worry about the NPS running the Mall, but local area parks and rec centers. It's a ridiculous consequence of DC's colonial status. By the way NPS has completely bungled the repair of the upper fields at Meridien Hill/Malcolm X park, which were supposed to open Spring 2008.

by Ward 1 Guy on Jan 26, 2009 10:17 am • link • report

One of the things that frustrates me most about the NPS (which in general I love and buy annual 'Golden Eagle' passes) is the poor interface with DC regarding bike lanes into RCP. Prime example: There are bikes lanes on Park Rd NW east of RCP up to the point where the road crosses into NPS land as Park Rd. approaches Beach Dr.- then the bike lanes disappear. On the west side of Beach Dr. (continuation of Park Rd.) on Tilden St., same thing. The bike lanes are abscent on NPS land but present where the road crosses into DC land. Why can't the NPS continue the bike lanes into their park?

by Bianchi on Jan 26, 2009 10:40 am • link • report

Ward 1 Guy says Re:Mall, we should not worry about the NPS running the Mall, but local area parks and rec centers. It's a ridiculous consequence of DC's colonial status.

To which I say : "He who takes the king's coin becomes the king's man"

by MPC on Jan 26, 2009 10:52 am • link • report

I apparently live in David's "fantasy world" as JW put it, and once I got into the habit of bringing my own bag it's like second nature to me. Stores might as well begin charging for bags, since giving them away for free doesn't really make economic sense, right? (For a great reusable bag, check out Envirosax. They are hands down my favorite b/c they fold up so small and yet fit over your shoulder when unrolled, which is key for using them on the Metro, the bus, etc.)

by DC_Chica on Jan 26, 2009 12:26 pm • link • report

I've been living in that "bring your own bag" fanatasy world too - for about 20 years now. Boy was I considered a freak back then. After living in western Europe I got in the habit and comprehended the utility of bringing my own reusable bag. It's often easier - my bags are bigger and sturdier than either paper or plastic. I often use a backpack with a waist strap. It's healthier for your back. A wheeled cart is even better if you don't have to lift it up stairs.

I have not found any shortage of plastic for picking up the dog droppings. There is the sleeve the newspaper comes in; other plastic grocery bags ie the ones for produce or empty plastic bags that once held frozen peas; plastic bags from incidental trips to the drug store or liquor store; a myriad of other plastic bags used as packing material. I have never been short of plastic for picking up dog drops. I applaud Lance's "reuse". I encourage Lance to embrace "reduce" as well.

by Bianchi on Jan 26, 2009 12:54 pm • link • report

By way of clarification, the "fantasy world" I was refering to was not about bringing your own bag to the supermarket, but was GGW's basic assumption, that flows throughout this blog, that families in the region, mostly living within a quarter-mile or half mile from the train or bus, will be doing their grocery shopping on foot. So, they might walk a quarter mile home and a quarter mile back to get groceries in the nearby commercial district, several times a week or more, or they might pick up what they can carry on the way home from work and other activities--again, several times a week or more. (And if that doesn't work for them, they have been told by various partipants here that they should move to Herndon.)

With respect to the bag issue, I have found that I have reused the bags that I get, paper for recycling newspapers and plastic for lining trash cans, kitty litter, etc., and I do not see the merit to telling people that they should, instead, buy single use plastic bags for those purposes.

by JW on Jan 26, 2009 1:30 pm • link • report

JW-how does distance to store or trips/week affect ability to reuse a bag? I don't understand the relationship.

by Bianchi on Jan 26, 2009 1:54 pm • link • report

I do most of my shopping on the way home from work, and it isn't that hard to make a folded shopping bag (even an especially sturdy, hence indefinitely reusable, plastic bag from a local liquor store) part of my kit along with notepad, appointment calendar, current reading material, etc.

I don't carry any of that junk either.

I don't like disposable bags, but I don't see why we can't have reusable bags with refundable deposits. So if I end up getting extra bags on some of my trips, I can take a whole bunch back to the store when I get around to it.

by David desJardins on Jan 27, 2009 1:46 am • link • report