Berkeley is considering a ban on plastic straws: Report

The uber-liberal bastion that is Berkeley may soon ban plastic straws within city limits.

A draft ordinance sponsored by three of the city’s councilmen would ban bars, restaurants and coffee shops in the crunchy California city from using the utensils, the East Bay Express first reported on May 24.

The ordinance’s supporters see it as a common-sense measure to combat plastic pollution, the East Bay Express said, noting that “in addition to polluting waterways, oceans and beaches, straws can suffocate and kill marine wildlife.”

The East Bay Express said that if enacted, the measure would be the first such ban in the nation.

At least one other jurisdiction in the Golden State has taken a step to nudge folks away from plastic straws. The city of Davis, a suburb of Sacramento, recently passed a local ordinance that forbids dining establishments from giving patrons a straw without them asking for it, KCRA reported on May 24.

While it remains to be seen if plastic-straw bans or surtaxes catch on elsewhere, public policy regarding plastic shopping bags may hold a clue as to its future.

In January 2013, Berkeley banned plastic shopping bags. The entire state of California followed suit shortly thereafter with a single-use plastic-bag ban that went into effect on July 1, 2015.

Voters rejected a ballot initiative in November that would have repealed the ban.

Other major jurisdictions like Chicago; Austin, Texas; Seattle; and Cambridge, Mass., also ban plastic bags, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures (NCSL). Hawaii has what amounts to a de facto statewide plastic-bag ban when you account for its various county-level ordinances, NCSL says.

While there are no state-level bag taxes, according to NCSL, some major U.S. jurisdictions have opted to tax rather than ban plastic shopping bags, including the District of Columbia and neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland, both of which charge customers 5 cents per bag.

Only three states have statewide preemption laws that can override local bag taxes or bans: Idaho, Arizona and Missouri, according to NCSL.