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  3. AM Headlines -- 8.19.09

AM Headlines — 8.19.09

ORG XMIT: WAET203 This Aug. 3, 2009 photo shows a clerk bagging groceries in plastic sacks at the M Street Grocery in Seattle. After Seattle officials passed a 20-cent tax on each paper or plastic grocery bag, the nation's first, the plastic industry poured nearly $1.4 million to defeat the measure. Opponents of the bag tax have outspent supporters about 16 to 1 to sway Seattle's famously green voters to reject the bag tax during the Aug. 18 primary. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (Elaine Thompson / The Spokesman-Review)
ORG XMIT: WAET203 This Aug. 3, 2009 photo shows a clerk bagging groceries in plastic sacks at the M Street Grocery in Seattle. After Seattle officials passed a 20-cent tax on each paper or plastic grocery bag, the nation's first, the plastic industry poured nearly $1.4 million to defeat the measure. Opponents of the bag tax have outspent supporters about 16 to 1 to sway Seattle's famously green voters to reject the bag tax during the Aug. 18 primary. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (Elaine Thompson / The Spokesman-Review)

Seattle's famously green voters have rejected a 20-cent charge on plastic and paper bags, instituted by their city officials. It was the first such tax in the nation. See story below. 

Question: Why do you think that even environmentally sensitive residents of Seattle would oppose a 20-cent grocery bag tax?

D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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