The existence of this Politico story is a testament to two interrelated phenomena. 

1. The inability in D.C. to understand views as driven by anything other than political campaigns and lobbying.

2. The inability to understand any views other than leftist ones

And so, “Plastic bags have lobbyists. They’re winning.” manages to push the bag ban in page after page, while portraying the continued existence of plastic bags as a vast conspiracy by a plastics lobby, without ever once acknowledging that ordinary human beings, the kind who actually shop in stores and need bags to carry those groceries home with them, might actually find them really useful.

The closest the ridiculous article, which took 3 writers to mash together, comes is when it briefly notes that, “With the bag fee poised to take effect, state Sen. Simcha Felder — an influential Democratic lawmaker who at the time caucused with Republicans — won a measure to block it, making his point by brandishing a loaf of Wonder bread and a carton of eggs.”

Why might he have done that? An obscure Jewish ritual or the bloody difficulty of shopping without bags? Why did Felder in particular take on the bag ban? 

The Politico article falsely claims that these environmentalist campaigns against supermarket shoppers are grass roots. “To take on a global and well-heeled industry, U.S. environmentalists have adopted a strategy of winning hyper-local grassroots victories to build momentum to ban the bag and other plastics,” it falsely claims.

There’s nothing grass roots about the bag ban campaign which is routed through major enviro groups that operation across state lines.

But opposition to them is as grass roots as having to pick up a few last minute items for dinner.

Plastic bags have lobbyists. They’re called supermarket shoppers.