Biden Declares War on Plastic Forks

On July 19, amid global calamities on a scale unseen since World War II, the Biden-Harris administration announced a plan to eliminate the deadly scourge of plastic silverware.

“Communities across the United States and around the world are facing a plastic pollution crisis,” a White House statement began.

It only got worse from there. In fact, two sentences later, the statement ‘s author made the required genuflection at the liberal altars of equity and apocalypse-mongering.

“The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that pollution can occur at every stage of the plastic lifecycle, disproportionately impacting communities with environmental justice concerns, contributing to loss of biodiversity, and exacerbating the impacts of climate change,” the statement read.

Worse yet, the statement amounted to more than mere liberal platitudes.

In fact, the announcement accompanied the release of an 83-page report outlining “the first comprehensive, government-wide strategy to target plastic pollution at production, processing, use, and disposal.”

That report, presented under the title “Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities,” provided the official justification for a government initiative that would, according to the White House statement, “phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.”

Nor will the federal busybodies leave their private-sector neighbors alone. They never do.

“Tackling plastic pollution and its associated impacts will require unprecedented action at every stage of the plastic lifecycle — from reining in the pollution from petrochemical production that is poisoning communities and driving climate change, to reorienting infrastructure to ensure dramatic increases in recycling and reuse, to investing in innovative materials to replace the pervasive use of plastics in our society,” the report read.

The announcement, of course, came more than two weeks ago. But between the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and an internal coup against Biden, Americans’ attention lay elsewhere.

Thus, lawmakers like Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota offered belated-yet-astounded reactions to the administration’s priorities.

“The world’s on fire, and he’s worried about plastic forks,” Rounds told the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

The senator acknowledged that reducing plastic pollution would be a good thing. But he also objected to the methods proposed.

“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,” Rounds said.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah sounded even more skeptical.

“I mean, first of all, what is so bad about plastic forks and spoons? I mean, I assume the biggest impact this will have will be at government workplaces, military bases, things like that,” Lee said.

“They should shrink the government if they want it to be less of a consumer. The reason it’s the largest consumer is because it employs so many people, and it’s doing so many things it was probably never intended to do,” the senator later added.

Indeed, we would all accept fewer plastic forks, knives and spoons if it also meant less government.

As the report made clear, however, it means exactly the opposite. It always does.