海角大神

The ink is barely dry on聽California鈥檚 first-ever statewide ban on plastic bags聽at grocery and convenience stores, but the opposition has already begun聽efforts to undo the newly minted law.

The聽American Progressive Bag聽Alliance (APBA), an industry trade group representing plastic bag manufacturers, has announced a campaign to put a referendum on the 2016 ballot. It聽has begun the process of collecting the more than half a million necessary signatures.

APBA turned down a request for an interview, but said in a statement that it considers the new law a 鈥渟cam鈥� that will benefit grocery stores without helping the environment, and that the ten-cent fee for alternative bags will unduly burden聽low-income residents.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the law聽on Tuesday.聽At least 127 California municipalities already are covered by plastic bag bans of some kind, according to Californians Against Waste.

However, APBA maintains that the majority of California voters do not support the ban.

鈥淪ince state lawmakers failed their constituents by approving this terrible bill, we will take the question directly to the public and have great faith they will repeal it at the ballot box,鈥� the industry group鈥檚 statement vows.

The opposition has 90 days to collect the necessary signatures. The number gathered must be equal to 5 percent of the votes cast for all candidates for governor in the last gubernatorial election (504,760).

Upon qualifying for the ballot, the law will be suspended until voters cast their ballots in November of 2016.聽 If聽voters act to repeal the law, it will聽end. If voters turn down the repeal effort, the law will go into effect in January 2017.

The effort to overturn this law has support from at least one Los Angeles County supervisor, Mike Antonovich, who voted against the Los Angeles ban four years ago. According to his Planning and Public Works Deputy,聽Edel Vizcarra,聽the law is an 鈥渙verreach鈥� by government.

鈥淭here are many ways to change behavior that were never tried,鈥� he says, adding that bans are the least effective method.

While the bill includes a provision for some $2 million in loans to help manufacturers transition to recyclable bags, Mr. Vizcarra says that is far from sufficient and the law will push companies that provide some 2,000 jobs out of state.

The law provides exemptions for low-income residents who are on public assistance. But Vizcarra says that many low-income residents are not on public assistance and will be hit if they have to buy a new bag every time they go to the grocery store.聽 Many residents do not like reusable bags, he adds, because they are seen as unsanitary.

Interviews with shoppers reveal that while many support the ban in theory, there is lukewarm support on the ground.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 embarrassed to admit that it annoys me,鈥� says retiree Wayne Norton outside the Ralph鈥檚 grocery store in Sherman Oaks. "So I keep quiet about my irritation. I鈥檝e been coming here for years and years and now I have to pay for a bag. It鈥檚 not so much the 10 cents as the awkward moment. Who wants to be caught saying 鈥榥o鈥� to 10 cents?鈥� he adds.

Wendrif Mickens, sales manager at the same Ralphs, says, 鈥淭o tell you frankly, views are mixed. Some people really like it. Others really don鈥檛. Some of the people who don鈥檛 like it get really annoyed because they forget to bring their reusables in. Others want to save the dime so they tell us just to put everything in the cart and then they wheel it out to their car and just place everything on the seat.鈥�