June 3, 2008 - ...plastic bags, and it is going to save them 30 million barrels of oil," said John Ramsburgh, director of the S.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club. "One of the things we need to be aware of is that plastic is a petroleum-based product and the continued use of plastic bags increases our dependence on foreign oil."But Tom Shearin, director of Keep Florence Beautiful, said it doesn't make good economic sense to ban plastic bags."Unfortunately, plastic bags are inexpensive.