A new bill could reverse Maine’s plastic bag ban in Maine [Video]

AUGUSTA, Maine — About a year and a half ago, Maine banned the use of single-use plastic bags. Now, Republican lawmakers want to reverse the ban with a bill that is being introduced to the Legislature.

Rep. Chad Perkins, R- Dover-Foxcroft, is sponsoring the bill and said he has read dozens of studies on the topic and learned that single-use plastic bags might actually be better for the environment than paper or reusable plastic bags.

“It takes four times as much energy to make a paper bag than to make a single-use plastic bag, and those paper bags produce 50% more pollution and use four times as much water as the single-use plastic bags. And on top of that, it creates a sharp increase in the release of methane which is a …