Texas Up In Smoke

The cool thing about being an American is having the freedom to have and to express our own beliefs. We do not have to succumb to what others are doing; instead, we have the right to make our own path. So, why ban the use of plastic bags in Austin? Shouldn’t government be focusing less on this issue since it should be our right to choose whether we want to go green and use cloth bags, or whether we want to use plastic bags as means to hold our groceries? Also, should such issues as the ban of plastic bags be what take up our government’s time, or should they be focusing on issues that lead to greater problems for our state?

For me going green is not my fist priority. I especially think that when concerning the plastic bag issue, there are much larger problems that should be taking priority when speaking of our government. One issue in particular is the Texas fires that took place due to our excruciating drought conditions. Instead of our government focusing their attention on cutting back on the plastic bag usage, they should be focusing on greater issues such as peoples littering of cigarette butts.

This is not saying that plastic bags are not at all a problem. I do agree to some extent that plastic bags probably cause harm to our environment. Sarah Coppola, with Austin America Statesman, explained it by stating, “But city leaders have said the bags often end up as litter or landfill trash and cause environmental harm”. I believe this to be a true statement, however, it cannot possibly be more harmful then people losing their homes and businesses due to the lack of government action. During the fires that took place in Bastrop the American-Statesman staff said, “The fire in Bastrop County has been confirmed to have burned 14,000 acres and has grown to become an estimated 16 miles long, said Mark Stanford, fire chief of the Texas Forest Service”. With that being said it should be no wonder government should take greater action when concerning cigarette butts being thrown out the windows of cars. These fires did not necessarily start from the littering of cigarettes; however, it is statistically undeniable that littering of butts poses great risk of such fires.

According to Kut News’, Crystal Chavez, a lot of fires are started by the littering of cigarette butts. She states, “Tobacco related litter is the most common form of litter and over 40,000 cigarette butts have been collected from 39 Parks and Recreation Department sites this year. Cigarettes also pose a significant fire risk. According to the Austin Fire Department, 9 out of 10 fires along our roadways are caused by cigarettes and at least 25% of all wildfires have been caused by cigarettes”. So why are we not focusing more time and attention on cracking down on the littering of cigarette butts, and less on plastic bags. It seems to me that government has its priorities all wrong. While we spend more money producing and distributing durable bags, our state will be going up in smoke.

Chavez, Crystal. "Top Morning Stories 12/08/11:Council Voting on Parks Smoking Ban, Water May Be Cut Off for Farmers." KUT News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012. <http://kutnews.org/post/top-morning-stories-120811council-voting-parks-smoking-ban-water-may-be-cut-farmers>.

Coppola, Sarah. "Austin Passes Bag Ban." Austin News, Sports, Weather, Longhorns, Business. N.p., 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 27 July 2012. <http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/cityhall/entries/2012/03/02/austin_passes_bag_ban_1.html>.

"Fires Raging throughout Central Texas." Austin News, Sports, Weather, Longhorns, Business. N.p., 04 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 July 2012. <http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2011/09/04/fires_raging_throughout_centra.html>.