Is paper bag the winner?

Lately more and more cities in the US are banning plastic bags and having the stores replace them with paper bags instead. You can find a complete list of the cities here.
Are paper bags better for the environment than plastic bags? That has been an ongoing debate. As far as disposing of paper bags, that is indeed better for the environment; however, producing them is a whole other story. Turns out, producing paper bags is much more straining to the environment. Here is a little chart that will show you how much energy is used for making bags (for a better view of this, please click here):

It is important to remember however, that plastic bags stay in the environment far longer than any paper bag, and create more harm with incorrect disposing.