Virginia

SEP 15, 3:46 PM

Trump EPA Administrator Speaks Out Against Fairfax County’s 5-Cent Plastic Bag Fee

Jacob Fenston https://twitter.com/JacobFenston

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday evening to adopt a $0.05 fee on plastic bags, becoming the first jurisdiction in Northern Virginia to tax disposable shopping bags. The move was not without its detractors: among them, Fairfax resident Andrew Wheeler.

Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who also ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump, showed up at the Fairfax County Government Center to testify against the bag tax, wearing a dark blue gingham suit and a face mask not covering his nose.

“It is misguided, and could ultimately do more environmental harm than good,” Wheeler said of the bag fee, noting that reusable bags can also have a negative impact on the environment. He called the bag tax an “optical Band-Aid” that would have “little-to-no effect on the problem at hand.”



Andrew Wheeler, former EPA administrator, testifying against the bag fee.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

In a familiar Trump administration refrain, Wheeler blamed China. “The alarming truth of the matter is that over 50% of ocean plastics come from five Asian countries, China being the greatest offender by far.”

The board of supervisors voted 9 to 1 to adopt the bag tax, which will go into effect January 1, 2021.

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