Articulation is OK, but I think the logic is totally flawed because it makes paper bags seem less bad than plastic when in fact they are a far worse choice (for those of us who don't throw bags out the window when we're done with them, anyway). The "bags are made from oil" argument is full on irrelevant sensationalism, and plastic bags are better for landfills than paper. It's far less environmentally damaging to manufacture and recycle plastic bags than paper. The only negatives to plastic bags over paper are due to the few jackasses that neither throw away nor recycle the bags and instead litter and cost the city money for cleanup. Sadly, we can't punish the litterers, get people to recycle, or start a CRV-like program so the homeless will recycle bags like they do cans. Instead, the wrong people are being punished with the new bag ordinance.

Ross says "they contaminate landfills"? Landfills are contaminated by definition. Plastic bags are one of the more benign things in landfills and take up less space than paper bags.

Don't feel bad about using the plastic bag -- at least it wasn't paper.