The Biden administration has announced plans to ban single-use plastics, including kitchen cutlery, cups, and straws, across federal departments in an effort to combat “climate change.” The initiative, revealed in July, calls for an “all hands on deck response” from federal agencies to address environmental concerns.
“The President is committed to taking ambitious actions… to end plastic pollution and is calling upon the global community to do the same, with the goal to reduce the global production and consumption of virgin plastics,” the White House stated.
The plan includes phasing out single-use plastics such as “plastic and polystyrene food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, cups, cutlery, and disposable plastic bags.”
The Biden-Harris Administration has set a timeline to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027 and from all federal operations by 2035. This initiative builds on previous executive orders aimed at reducing environmental impact.
The policy intiative will also increase regulations on plastic manufacturers across the country, according to a report by The Daily Mail. The announcement has faced mockery and backlash from conservatives, including members of Congress.
“The world’s on fire and he’s worried about plastic forks,” reacted Senator Mike Rounds.
“Look, I certainly understand that plastics are a pollutant, we need to do a better job with it,” Rounds explained. “But I’m a little bit hesitant to say that this plastic ban will be a good thing.”
“Black and white mandates like this typically backfire. I think there’s things that we could do as a government, as well as individuals, to keep improving our environment,” he added.
The administration did provide a loophole which stated that agencies can be exempted from this order in the case of “national security.”
“The head of an agency may exempt particular agency activities and related personnel, resources, and facilities from the provisions of this order when it is in the interest of national security, to protect intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure, or where necessary to protect undercover law enforcement operations from unauthorized disclosure,” the White House said.
