While the city of Kirkland has taken yet another step to micromanage its residents lives by passing a ban on plastic bags, the city of Huntington Beach’s (Cal.) city council voted 6-1 on Jan. 20 to repeal its plastic bag ban that went into effect in 2013.

The city council discovered that no evidence exists that its ban has helped at all. In fact, Councilman Mike Posey stated that the city’s ban actually could be creating a greater carbon footprint by forcing consumers to buy paper bags and reusuable bags, since their production and delivery generates up to 400 percent more emissions than plastic bags. His study did not include the increased carbon footprints created by the number of residents who are now driving to other towns in order to do their shopping. The residents of Huntington Beach fought their nanny state plastic bag ban by voting the incumbents who voted for the ban out of office.

Plastic bag bans are overreaching by city councils that infringe upon the residents’ fundamental freedom of choice and they deny citizens their right to vote on an issue that should be decided by them exclusively. This ban can be fought by either ridding the city council of the incumbents who have supported this ban or by starting a petition that will place this matter in front of the voters.

I find it ironic that, on the one hand the city of Kirkland wants to save the environment by banning plastic bags, and on the other hand thinks nothing of using systemic herbicides on city-owned property in order to control the growth of vegetation. On Feb. 16, signs were posted at Juanita Beach informing park visitors that Roundup had been sprayed at the park. Last summer in the city-owned Holmes Point area greenbelt, which had previously been mowed, was sprayed with systemic herbacides instead. No consideration was given to the fact that this greenbelt was honeycombed with wild rabbit dens. Shortly after the spraying had occurred, the noticeable decline in rabbit activity signaled the fact that the vegetation was not the only thing killed by the systemic herbicides. Very sad. I think that the city of Kirkland needs to get its priorities straight. A change in leadership would be a good first step.

Laurel D. Lupton, Kirkland