In
answering this question, one has to consider several factors. The first is the environmental
impact of a plastic straw ban. Plastic straws constitute a very small fraction of the plastic
waste that finds its way into the world's oceans, so eliminating them would not solve the entire
problem. That said, the measures against plastic straws might be seen as low-hanging fruit for
environmentalists, an example of how a fairly painless lifestyle change could have some impact.
Often, plastic straw bans are part of a larger campaign against plastic utensils, or even
disposable plastics in general.
The answer would have to reckon with the
terms of the question, which are a little confusing. Most of the bans on plastic
strawsStarbucks, as the question suggests, being the most high-profilehave been undertaken by
corporations. Whether done for public relations purposes or out of a legitimate concern for the
environmental impact of their products (or both), these companies have decided to eliminate
plastic straws. In the United States, the governments that have enacted such a ban have been
overwhelmingly municipalities, with the state of California (which has not banned plastic straws
outright) an outlier. The question references the "government" as the enforcer of a
ban, and under the American system of federalism, it is unlikely that the federal government
would have the power or the capacity to enact and enforce a plastic straw ban.
The politics of a plastic straw ban go beyond concerns of federalism. It has, in some
ways, become emblematic of a cultural divide in the nation. Conservatives, who often oppose
government action on the environment, hold the so-called "straw ban" up as an example
of yet another government overreach. They portray it as frivolous and a way in which liberals
would regulate the everyday lives of Americans. Some Republican politicians, including the
President of the United States, have characterized the so-called "war on straws" in
precisely these terms. So any complete answer to this question would have to consider these
dimensions to the issue.
Finally, the disabled community has been vocal in
its
of the plastic straw ban, since many people with disabilities actually rely on plastic straws to
be able to drink. Banning plastic straws, or making them only available upon request, furthers
the stigmatization of disability.
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