Northwood Students Testify in Support of the Plastic Bag Fee

Northwood students studying the law and society will get a personal look at democracy today in Annapolis as two students testify in support of the Maryland Plastic Bag Bill.

Officially titled the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011, the bill would institute a 5 cent tax on each plastic bag used by consumers for takeout, grocery shopping and in other locations.

Montgomery County Council is considering its own bag tax as a environmental measure, not necessarily as revenue generator.

Deepak Sharma, a senior, and Spencer Bodian, a junior, said they had prepared specific testimony to give to the House Environmental Matters committee, but were prepared to answer any questions as well. The entire law class will go to Annapolis for a day of the legislative session.

“I’m part of the stream team in Maryland, so I know how many plastic bags are in the streams,” Sharma said, “In D.C. the amount of bags in streams decreased 50 percent since the bag tax was put into place.”

Bodian and Sharma have spent extra time doing research for their testimony, and fortunately, have the lessons and statistics of a nearby government’s experience with a similar bill to back up their arguments, D.C.’s bag tax has been in place long enough to study its effects on revenue, use of the bags and environmental effects. 

Jennifer Chambers, the GreenKids coordinator at Northwood, approached the Jamie Bisset’s class about the opportunity.

“I was really excited to have any of my students be able to participate in the legislative process,” Bisset said, “The students really prepared themselves. I helped to point them in the right direction for research.”

After learning about the bill and the opportunity to speak in front of the legislators, Bodian decided to volunteer.

“After I found out about it, I got really interested,” he said, “I feel pretty strongly about it, and it's something I would like to see change.”

Speaking in public can be intimidating, so both Sharma and Bodian said they were glad they’ve had experience with mock trial cases in class.

But what would they say to those who would oppose the bill?

“The fee is actually optional,” Bodian said, adding he was glad there was a separate plan to give out free reusable bags to low-income families.  “You can decide to not get a bag or bring reusable bag, and not pay the fee. You can do something about it."

Sharma said he would reiterate the positive effect on the environment, and added that a portion of the total fees will go directly to the Chesapeake Bay Trust.