舊金山監委會（Board of Supervisors）3月27日通過禁用塑膠購物袋的法令。此爭議性決定受到環保人士支持，但超市貿易聯會反對。如果該市市長紐森（Gavin Newsom）如預期簽訂此禁令，舊金山將是美國第一個城市採取禁用塑膠購物袋的措施。
監委會以在10比1表決通過該法令，其中要求大型超市和藥妝店只能提供消費者用三種袋子：回收紙製成的紙袋、玉米澱粉作成可分解的塑膠袋（一般塑膠袋是由石油製成），或可重複使用的布袋。
但舊金山五十家最受影響的商家則認為，禁止使用石油製塑膠袋的法令不合理，因為新式可分解的塑膠袋昂貴且未經檢測。有些店家表示，他們在結帳區可能就只提供紙袋，此舉將消耗更多製成紙袋的樹木。
加州雜貨商聯會反對該禁令執行，因為兩年前，舊金山市政府同意如果超市每年減少1000萬個塑膠袋使用量，將不徵收17美分的塑膠袋稅。儘管雜貨商聯會宣稱他們在2006年已減少760萬個的使用量，但該數據不但未達預期目標，也因調查過程有瑕疵，可信度有問題。
發起該法令的監委馬克維彌（Ross Mirkarimi）在表決後表示：「我們可以採取行動，讓舊金山的經濟更具感知關懷性。我們不能濛混前進未來；便宜石油的時代，就在舊金山終結。」
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a ban on plastic grocery bags in a controversial decision supported by environmentalists and opposed by a supermarket trade association. If Mayor Gavin Newsom signs the ban as expected, San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to adopt a plastic bag ban.
Passed by a 10-1 vote, the law would require large markets and drug stores to give customers a choice among bags made of recyclable paper, plastic made from cornstarch that breaks down into compost, or reusable cloth. Plastic bags are made from petroleum.
The 50 San Francisco grocery stores that would be most affected argue that the ban on petroleum-based plastic bags is not reasonable because plastic bags made of cornstarch are new, expensive and untested. Some said they might offer only paper bags at their checkout stations, which would require more trees to be cut.
The California Grocers Association has resisted the change. Two years ago, San Francisco agreed not to levy a 17 cent tax on plastic bags if supermarkets would agree to cut the number of plastic bags it used by 10 million each year.
The grocers' association claimed it reduced the number of plastic bags by 7.6 million in 2006 - a number that fell short of the target and appeared unreliable because of the way the data was gathered.
“We can take steps to make our economy a little more soulful in San Francisco," the ordinance's chief sponsor, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi told reporters after the vote. "We can't sleepwalk into the future. The end of the era of cheap oil is here."
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
