CBS Hosts Hail California's Ban On Plastic Bags As 'Great Idea'

In a report for Tuesday's CBS Evening News, correspondent John Blackstone touted California passing a law to ban plastic bags from grocery stores as "a victory for those who've declared the single-use plastic bag an environmental enemy." Leading off a similar segment on Wednesday's CBS This Morning, he declared: "You see them everywhere, plastic bags by the road, by the water, in landfills. But now you won't see them at any California grocery stores."

After Blackstone's This Morning report, co-host Norah O'Donnell excitedly endorsed the nanny state government overreach: "You know, in Washington, D.C. they did this several years ago. They didn't ban them outright, but they said if you want a bag, you gotta pay the extra five or ten cents and that money would go to cleaning up the Anacostia River. And it's worked. People use less plastic bags." Fellow co-host Gayle King chimed in: "I think it's a great idea." [Listen to the audio [1]]

O'Donnell confessed: "And you always kick yourself when you forget to bring your...recyclable bag." Charlie Rose wondered: "And is the river cleaner?" O'Donnell asserted: "It is, yeah. I think they've made a lot of progress."

King concluded: "This is a good idea. Good idea." O'Donnell agreed: "Good one."

While teasing Blackstone's report earlier on the morning show, Rose noted the potential negative impact of the ban: "The historic change coming to the checkout line and the fears it could cost thousands of jobs." Introducing the segment itself, King mentioned: "...the landmark law is aimed at protecting the environment, but critics say this is bad business."

After warning that "Americans use about 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags every year" that "in a landfill could last a thousand years," Blackstone did acknowledge the economic downside:

A group representing the nation's plastic bag manufacturers plans to gather signatures for a 2016 referendum to repeal the new law. It says the ban would jeopardize thousands of California manufacturing jobs. According to the group, the legislation "was a back room deal between the grocers and union bosses to scam California consumers out of billions of dollars" because they'd be forced to buy reusable plastic or paper bags.

Blackstone then teed up a grocery store chain executive to shoot down the accusation:

BLACKSTONE: Another argument I heard is that, "Well, it's a boon for the supermarkets. They're going to make a fortune selling the bags."

KENDRA DOYLE [VICE PRESIDENT, RALPH'S SUPERMARKETS]: That's not the case actually. If a person does pay 10 cents for a paper bag, that will go back into paying for that bag and then education.

BLACKSTONE: That education is well underway in California. More than a hundred local governments have already banned single-use plastic bags.

During the Evening News story, Blackstone explained:

The plastics industry is vowing to fight California's ban with a referendum. It has argued the ban will be expensive for consumers and cost jobs. Kendra Doyle's company started out as an opponent of the ban as well, but came to see it as a change whose time has come.

Doyle proclaimed: "I absolutely think we'll see this spread all the way to the east coast." Blackstone concluded: "So shoppers everywhere may one day have to rethink their habits of a lifetime."

The CBS coverage ignored any philosophical skepticism of the government micro-managing the kind of shopping bags consumers use.

By contrast, a report on Tuesday's NBC Nightly News was almost fair and balanced, though it still had an favorable tone overall to the policy.

Anchor Brian Williams promoted the story in the headlines at the top of the broadcast, hinting that the ban could go nationwide: "Paper or plastic? A big move to retire that question forever. Question is, are supermarkets near you next in line?"

When introducing the segment minutes later, he noted that the policy was "controversial" and "designed to change our behavior."

Correspondent Hallie Jackson began her report by fretting over "plastic bags littering beaches and beyond" in California. However, she then described how the "west coast 'bring your own bag' culture" was "skewered on TV," playing a clip of AMC's Portlandia mocking the concept.

While playing a soundbite of one supermarket shopper worrying that "plastic bags don't break down" in landfills, Jackson then talked to another customer who condemned the ban: "The trouble is California doesn't necessarily lead the attitudes of the real people. That's not the kind of government we need, that's meddling."

Jackson also observed: "At a nearby plastic bag plant, two manufacturing lines have stopped production. The shutdown blamed on the bag ban." Though she noted that "Other factories are already adapting by making bags you can reuse."

Wrapping up the report, a clip ran of Mark Murray of Californians Against Waste proclaiming: "This is the beginning of the end of the plastic bag."

Jackson concluded: "The hope now, change at the checkout line creates a new view on the coastline."

Here is a full transcript of the October 1 story on This Morning:

7:31 AM ET TEASE:

CHARLIE ROSE: Plus, the state that is bagging a supermarket tradition. The historic change coming to the checkout line and the fears it could cost thousands of jobs. That's ahead.

8:03 AM ET SEGMENT:

GAYLE KING: Food shoppers in California will soon have to bring a bag or buy one. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill yesterday outlawing throw-away shopping bags in grocery and convenience stores. As John Blackstone reports, the landmark law is aimed at protecting the environment, but critics say this is bad business.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Banning the Bag; CA First State to Prohibit Plastic Bags]

JOHN BLACKSTONE: You see them everywhere, plastic bags by the road, by the water, in landfills. But now you won't see them at any California grocery stores. The state is banning single-use plastic bags starting in June next year. Kendra Doyle is vice president of Ralph's, one of the state's biggest supermarket chains.

[To Doyle] California first state to do this. Something that's likely to spread, do you think?

KENDRA DOYLE [RALPH'S SUPERMARKETS]: I do think so. I absolutely think we'll see this spread all the way to the east coast.

BLACKSTONE: According to a 2013 study, Americans use about 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags every year. While each bag is only used for about 20 minutes, its life in a landfill could last a thousand years.

There's already an effort underway to bag the legislation. A group representing the nation's plastic bag manufacturers plans to gather signatures for a 2016 referendum to repeal the new law. It says the ban would jeopardize thousands of California manufacturing jobs. According to the group, the legislation "was a back room deal between the grocers and union bosses to scam California consumers out of billions of dollars" because they'd be forced to buy reusable plastic or paper bags.

[To Doyle] Another argument I heard is that, "Well, it's a boon for the supermarkets. They're going to make a fortune selling the bags."

DOYLE: That's not the case actually. If a person does pay 10 cents for a paper bag, that will go back into paying for that bag and then education.

BLACKSTONE: That education is well underway in California. More than a hundred local governments have already banned single-use plastic bags. And with the ban now going statewide, in California now, BYOB means "bring your own bag." For CBS This Morning, John Blackstone, Los Angeles.

KING: That's a nice camera shot.

NORAH O'DONNELL: You know, in Washington, D.C. they did this several years ago. They didn't ban them outright, but they said if you want a bag, you gotta pay the extra five or ten cents and that money would go to cleaning up the Anacostia River. And it's worked.

KING: I think it's a great idea.

O'DONNELL: People use less plastic bags. And you always kick yourself when you forget to bring your recyclical [sic] – how do I say it, Gayle?  

KING: Recyclable.

O'DONNELL: Recyclable bag, yeah.   

ROSE: And is the river cleaner?

O'DONNELL: It is, yeah. I think they've made a lot of progress.

KING: But you know the point that stood out for me in John's thing, when he said most of us only use a bag for 20 minutes. Which is right, because you're taking it home and then it lasts forever. This is a good idea. Good idea.

O'DONNELL: Good one.