May 29, 2018 — The humble plastic drinking straw has become the villain of the moment for environmental crusaders, with New York City joining a small but growing list of communities considering a straw ban to lighten the load on landfills and protect marine life.

The campaign is not advancing uniformly, though. It remains mostly the province of coastal communities, while the plastics industry questions the value of such bans and shareholders for one major straw distributor, McDonald’s, voted against a push by activists for the chain to re-evaluate its use of plastic straws.

The more than decade-old crusade to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags also suggests that these restrictions can face a backlash. California remains the only state to ban plastic bags, while 10 other states have passed laws limiting, or forbidding, cities and counties from enacting their own plastic bag restrictions.