If you haven't heard...Bellingham moved one step forward in its quest to make-over the public.  Eco-activist control freaks are on a "green scare" tear though this town, it seems.

From the Bellingham Herald:

Bellingham council votes 7-0 to approve plastic bag ban
July 11th, 2011
From Paben

The Bellingham City Council just voted 7-0 to approve the plastic bag ban.

Plastic bag ban poised for passage tonight
July 11th, 2011
From Stark

The Bellingham City Council appears to be ready to pass an ordinance to ban the use of plastic shopping bags at all retailers in the city.

The ordinance cleared the council’s Natural Resources committee on a 4-0 vote Monday afternoon July 11, with Chairman Seth Fleetwood and members Michael Lilliquist, Barry Buchanan and Gene Knutson voting. Two other council members in attendance, Terry Bornemann and Jack Weiss, also indicated their support for the measure.

If the council does approve it, the bag ban would take effect in one year after passage. Besides banning the use of lightweight disposable plastic shopping bags, the ordinance would also require retailers to charge customers five cents for each disposable paper bag they use.

The extra nickels are meant to help retailers cover the higher cost of the paper bags while giving shoppers an incentive to remember their reusable bags.

Under the legal procedure for adopting a new ordinance, the measure must get a second, final vote at another council meeting.

The seven-page ordinance contains a few complexities:

• Low-income people can be exempted from the nickel paper bag fee;
• A store can get a temporary exemption from the law that would be granted by the mayor, if that store can demonstrate a special hardship
• Paper bags provided to shoppers must be made from 40 percent recycled materials;
• Restaurants are still permitted to offer disposable plastic bags for take-out foods.
• Small paper bags can be offered to shoppers for small items, free of charge.

Read more: http://blogs.bellinghamherald.com/politics/#ixzz1RueBmqq0

Comments?

Editorial

Having just suffered through this morning’s presidential press conference loaded with campaign rhetoric about the need to “invest in the future” and raise more taxes for another round of recovery spending - to steer the economy toward artificial prosperity - WE reflect that what’s unhinged is the delusional theory that it’s government’s job to manage and steer the private sector at all.

As one local Whatcom blog often asks - WE'd like to know:   “Which article of the constitution gives government the authority to do that?”

Let us be perfectly clear.  The constitution was written by the founders to restrain the natural instincts of tyrants and crackpots.  Thomas Jefferson said, "The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."

WE recognize the need for (self-) government.  That is, to provide universal basic services and sane regulation.  And it would follow that regulation and the cost of government should be proportionate and appropriate to those limited duties.

We know that government does not produce anything.   The private sector and the free market are the buyers and the builders, the makers and employers, and the generators of goods and services.  Individual demand and a responsive free market make the economy tick, and drives innovation.

With the national debt at $14,638,661,000,000+, it is inane for citizens to rely on government – distant or local -- to oversee every dimension of our technology and our behavior, under the broad cover of the constitution’s commerce clause.

Doubt not that illiberal control freaks have a tight grip on the rudder, and most don't mind if America's private self-regulating economy slips even farther down the Index of Economic Freedom than it has already.

We can’t afford the costs related to more "economic stimulus."  We can’t afford the foolish meddling.  And we most certainly can’t lose the personal liberty that’s being tied to the tail of this donkey.   A lot of people share these sentiments, expressed in this video.

What say you?

With a price-tag of $102,116, the City of Bellingham has seen fit to give the eco-activist, non-governmental organization RE Sources a three year "ecology grant" contract to develop a "target list" of businesses and industries "not currently covered by local source control efforts" -- and then school them about "best management practices (BMP's)..."   The reach of this Bellingham-paid project extends into Skagit County too (oh-my).  Read through the actual contract for yourself.   WE found this at Page 8:

Exhibit A

Task 1-  Business Sector Stormwater Outreach and Trainings  RE Sources for Sustainable Communities (RE Sources) will develop 4 sector based trainings focusing on stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for minimizing pollution.  These trainings will be delivered twice in both Whatcom and Skagit Counties.

A.                  Develop a target list of business and industry sectors that are not currently covered by local source control efforts.  Focus on specific technical, language and cultural aspects of each selected business type.  Sectors may include rental equipment companies, auto detailing, fleet washing, boat repair facilities, window washing services, janitorial services, drain, gutter and duct cleaning services, pressure washing and steam cleaning, and mobile businesses such as carpet cleaners, garbage/ dumpster companies, grease recycling companies, and construction-related (drywall, masonry and painters).  Using this list RE Sources will target sectors for trainings.

B.                  Develop both a classroom and field training component for 4 types of sectors including a training outline and brochure, as well as an instructional checklist, and/ or facts sheets, where appropriate, that details the BMP’s for each sector....”  (more...)

WE post this - and think it's very important -- for a number of reasons.

To alert the businesses being targeted.  Obviously Bellingham doesn't think you're under enough scrutiny already.   No matter how conscientious or good stewards any (or all of you) may be, Bellingham thinks RE Sources and Baykeeper should "reach out and touch you" some more.   These private citizens -- not city employees -- have already been out, looking for miscreants.   Now they are going a step farther.   They're being paid to tell you how to operate, which is packaged as "best management practices" (BMP's).   You're already subject to inspection at any time, for a "visit," without a warrant.

We also think it's important to raise public awareness that agenda-driven, activist "non-profits" are being employed, at very great expense, to do this kind of self-directed "work."   Most people probably don't realize how many tax dollars are drained at a time when state and local budget short-falls risk the loss of more basic and necessary services.   Competitive bids aren't necessarily required for a public-private grant project like this.   That, in itself, is a troubling matter.

Last, we're concerned about the sea change underway from "government as service and servant" toward "government agencies and their partners directing the private sector."  We see this kind of unaccountable, agenda driven policing and governance as a serious and growing trend.

Do you find any or all of this alarming?  If you do, share the story with others -- and don't be shy about telling those who are supposed to be representing you what you think of it.   Please do share your comments here, too.

Do you wonder why you can't seem to find a Democrat or a Republican candidate who will speak out plainly against Agenda 21?  Even "Tea Party" Republicans? It's because the parties themselves support Agenda 21.  They will crowd out any candidate who comes out against Agenda 21 -- 'Sustainable Development'.  Are they truly evil, or just useful idiots? Michael Shaw of Freedom Advocates explains... (Watch video...)

Learn the distinction between unalienable rights and inalienable rights. The difference may surprise you. A key principle of America's founding has disappeared down the memory hole.