Yet another thing to cause more harm then Good.
This story misses a massive point. First when California roled out this bag ban it really did reduce the number of single use bags generated. Many people did not buy the loophole 10c bags so yes it reduced the bags sold. There is the problem. These bags were re-used in many ways, for instance in my house these bags became the bathroom trash bags. once those were not available we had to buy bags. Hefty Hefty Hefty for the win. The replacement bags people bought were thicker and bigger. The reason more plastic was used was because people accepted a thin cheap bag if it was free, but if they were going to pay for it then it better not get a hole or leak.
The problem with this government intervention is quite a bit like others. Its based on a platitude without understanding cause and effect. Paper bags are not green, go ahead ask Amazon why it ships with plastic bubble wrap. They have worked really hard to have the greenest packing material they can.
But then again - California is not at all green.
Take for instance the Bay area - California is spending 2.4B to electrify the Caltrain. Meanwhile the area is the some of the worst traffic in the US. If we wanted to go green with that money we would focus on making it easier to commute to get cars off of the road. They didn't, its still an awful commuter system but hay now its electric.
Think thats the only example. Look at all of the new apartments going in. Due to the permitting and approval process the new housing is generally limited to 3 stories and is wood timber. The units are not utilizing space density, they are not located on rail lines for commuters, they are not located in walking distance of standard conveniences. We could make them more palitable, better for the environment, higher density, and encourage non-automobile commuting. However, getting permits for taller structures, mixed use is soo prohibitive people won't bother even if it could return more money.
Water - California is better on water right... Go ahead and read about the dams that had to be shut down due to disrepair during a drought. After your done with that you can read about all of the leaking pipes dripping our fresh water into the ground instead of into people's houses.
No... This is not about the environment is about control and the illusion of action