by Gary Denver-Newall

credit:flickr.com

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order ending a US government effort to replace plastic straws with paper.

The move completely contradicts what former President Joe Biden, labelled a crisis with Trump, who has always been a strong believer that paper straws are “disgusting” stating they dissolve in your mouth.

Many countries have imposed laws over single use plastic straws in order to try and clean the oceans of these plastics which are made with petrochemicals, these chemicals are also used to make plastic bags and bottles.

Trump, a lifelong fan of Coca-Cola who had his own button installed in the Oval Office, which when pushed summons a member of staff to bring him the drink.

The President told reporters at the White House: “We’re going back to plastic straws. I don’t think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they’re munching their way through the ocean”.

However one environmentalist said: “It’s 10 steps backwards, he doesn’t think its (pollution) real, its such a shame for the animals that live in these heavily polluted areas and for our future generation.”

Global annual plastic production doubled in the two decades since 2000 to about 460m tonnes and is expected to quadruple again by 2050.