Los Angeles Banning Plastic Bags Now, Paper Later.

The article reports that the Los Angeles City Council is expected to pass an ordinance banning the use of plastic bags within the city in April 2012 as a way of encouraging resident to use earth-friendly shopping bags. It observes that a plastics ban would result in the layoff of hundreds of employees and thus exacerbate Los Angeles County's unemployment rate of 12.1% as well as contribute to its estimated budget shortfall of 150-250 million U.S. dollars for the fiscal year 2012.