Following science, Trump withdraws the Biden plastic straw ban

For the left of Green Tepian, is this the last straw? In fact, how President Trump is shaking the system – perhaps not, to make Nancy Pelosi's advice a “brokener.” But the executive order he signed today would probably ensure that we don't have the last straw. So it's our last plastic one.

The order reverses the federal government's ban on so-called “single-use” plastics from the Biden administration. The Biden order, announced last summer, also applied to plastic cutlery and packaging, but straws were the most notable. Kicker:

The ban certainly did nothing to improve the environment.

But President Trump touted the utilitarian aspect of his order. As he wrote on Saturday about True Social:

“The Bent Joe's mission, “Plastic Straw, Only Paper” is dead! Enjoy your next drink without the straw that melts in your mouth!!!”

Below is a video in which the President briefly talks about the benefits of his order in signing mode.

But what about the planets? ?

Naturally, many critics are shady at Trump's move. For example, one environmentalist X respondent called him a “globe” threat, “doesn't understand anything” and “a complete idiot.” But it is unclear how much the president knows or doesn't know about the issue, but it is certainly true. Such critics themselves show a comic book understanding of it.

Of course, the concern is marine plastic pollution. This is a problem. However, the reality is that banning plastic straws in the US will not improve the environment. In fact, it can even be counterproductive.

First, we know that despite our country having 4.22% of the world's population, the US only blames about 1% of the plastic in the ocean.

Additionally, some municipalities and “green” businesses have banned/phased plastic straws, but they make up only a small portion of their waste. With this in mind, what explains the paranoia of plastic straws?

Well, first of all, years ago, already activists and the media began to argue that Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day. Isn't it amazing?

That's also wrong.

In fact, this figure came from the 9-year-old school project (seriously). However, this did not stop the media from banding numbers as if it had risen. More than this is explained in investigative reporter John Stosell in the video posted on X today (below).

Also, be aware that when properly disposed of, plastic will not reach the ocean. One way it does is through extensive ocean dumping, not a US phenomenon. Another way is to scatter. Plastic waste can be washed down into storm drains, which itself feeds rivers that flow into the ocean. (This is another reason why local anti-dispersion laws should be enforced.)

A real criminal

So where does most of the ocean clogging plastic waste come from? First there is China (surprise, surprise). Despite having only about 18% of the world's population, it is responsible for about 28% of the marine contaminated plastics. In fact, most plastic waste comes from five Asian countries.

Furthermore, as the World Economic Forum itself acknowledged in 2018, “there are only 10 river systems between 88-99% of the plastic that ends from rivers to oceans.” Eight of these systems are in Asia and two in Africa. One of the former is China's Yangtze, which is reportedly responsible for 55% of the plastic waste from the river to the ocean.

Furthermore, studies have shown that 46-60% (weight) of marine driving plastics contain discarded fishing gear (such as drift nets).

The video showing the problem can be found below.

Conclusion: Creating troublesome plastic regulations in the West does nothing to remedy the problem. But this focus gives governments an excuse to escape people and businesses further and control our lives.

The government is making the problem worse

President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nine most frightening words in English are, “I'm here because I'm from the government.” Consider the following X-post from Swedish journalist Peter Imanuelsen.

I cannot personally assure Imanuelsen's claims, but the government's track record of plastic regulation does not exactly inspire confidence. For example, ponders are a ban on “disposable” plastic bags in New Jersey (designed to save resources, be careful).

After being effective in 2022, plastic use has increased by 300% in making bags.

why? “Reusable” bags must be made 15 times more plastic as the government forces people to adopt them. However, New Jersey residents average 15 times less use it.

These unintended consequences create important problems. That is, they always ask for the proposed actions. What are the secondary effects? It always has a secondary effect, so I also request an answer. (Do you know the action reaction?)

According to John Stosel, give a good example. Only about 5% of the plastic is recycled. Most of the plastic in recycled bins is actually discarded. So what will happen?

It may be shipped to locations such as Malaysia. There, they could be burned or thrown away in the ocean (video below). This is all because the government is forcing what science writer John Tierney calls the “sacrament of green religion.” It won't happen if you've been depositing plastic in your landfill like before.

The reality is that the problem of marine-borne plastics could be solved by Western technological advances, such as biodegradable plastics and plastic-generating bacteria. But there is a deeper lesson here. The “invisible hands” of the market always deliver better results than plastic politicians who, despite unnecessary judgment, are often recycled back to garbage dumps known as civil servants.