Paper or Plastic?

This was in the NYT today - it's an article about taxing supermarket shoppers who use plastic bags. Legislators, however, are concerned about public backlash. As in, "we're in a recession and you're going to charge us FIVE CENTS for using a plastic bag?" I say invest a mere $5 in two large cloth bags and quit complaining. 

Anyway I was driven to take a peek at this site, savetheplasticbag.com. Now I'm far from an environmental activist, and I can respect that this guy's done his research before claiming that plastic bags hurt the environment less than paper bags. That's fine with me, it might even be true. But the problem is that he's only comparing plastic bags to paper bags, and not to reusable bags. I want to know what kind of impact we'd have if we all chose reusable bags? 

Also, there's a mention on this site of the "Philly Enquirer". That sounds like a tabloid to me. I think around here we call it the Inquirer, but nice try. 

What do YOU think?