[NYCFarmboy]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151995,00.html

Some Michigan lawmakers are tired of Canada dumping trash in state landfills and are proposing a tax hike to deter the practice.

The state has the nation's lowest dumping fee — just 21 cents per ton — and Canada has taken advantage of the savings: Trash imports increased 23 percent last year.

"We are willing to take care of our problem here in Michigan but we don't want to be the importer for everybody else's trash," said House leader Dianne Byrum (search), a Democrat. "If the out-of-state folks — the Canadians — are set on trashing our state ... they are going to pay for it. The free ride is over."

Lawmakers have proposed raising the dumping fee to $7.50 per ton, which would be the highest garbage tax in the nation.

But Michigan businesses, among the biggest disposers of trash, call the tax hike rubbish.

"We don't need to continually increase costs for residents of our state to pay for some politically motivated effort to try to increase revenues at a time when we're dealing with government deficits," said Jim Barrett of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce

[Socially Awkward Solo]

You know how many Americans buy drugs from Canada to save money and then piss it all into the water supply that we share?

[thunderous_funker]

I guess I'm kinda stumped why the Canadians are the bad guys in this scenario?

Are they paying less to dump than anyone else? Or is garbage from other states less bothersome than Canadian garbage?

If Michigan is starting to wonder whether or not they want to continue to be America's garbage whore that's fine, but blaming it on Canadians is a pretty pathetic cop out.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
blaming it on Canadians is a pretty pathetic cop out.

But it places the blame on someone else so that is good!

[Athens]

free market? Are we not supose to find the best deal like any one else? I think thats a silly article.

[NYCFarmboy]

I don't think any state or country should "export" garbage.

Whatever waste a state or country generates should be handled within it's own borders to emphasize recycling or to use waste for energy production etc.

[Athens]

Originally posted by NYCFarmboy:
I don't think any state or country should "export" garbage.

Whatever waste a state or country generates should be handled within it's own borders to emphasize recycling or to use waste for energy production etc.

Explain that to New York State which dumps in Canada, and the other states that dump toxic waste in Canada. I don't think we should be exporting our drugs to you since its our tax dollars paying for it.

[NYCFarmboy]

Originally posted by Athens:
Explain that to New York State which dumps in Canada, and the other states that dump toxic waste in Canada. I don't think we should be exporting our drugs to you since its our tax dollars paying for it.

I agree completely, I think it is awful that New York State does that.

[OldManMac]

As a Michigan resident, who has communicated with our Senator Debbie Stabenow on this issue, it is much more complex than this simple little article makes it out to be. Michigan doesn't really have much choice in accepting Canadian trash, as there is some federal treaty between the U. S. government and the Canadian government, which overrides Michigan's ability to stop the influx of trash. This has been a political hot button here for several years, and, short of rewriting or amending the treaty in question (I don't recall which treaty it is, off hand), we're stuck with this trash for the foreseeable future.

[Athens]

Prob the same reason Ontario resedence cant seem to stop the toxic waste which comes into Canada from the US, prob another stupid agreement like Canada's aggrement with Russia for Spent Uranium waste.