Oregon senator fights Trump administration’s reversal on plastics in national parks
PORTLAND – U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley reintroduced legislation this week to reduce disposable plastics in national parks after the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era policy to phase them out.
The Oregon Democrat’s bill would eliminate the procurement, sale and distribution of plastic water bottles, carry-out bags, straws and food packaging at the parks.
The move is the latest in a decade-old fight to get rid of single-use plastics on public lands. The Obama administration in 2011 encouraged the National Park Service to voluntarily stop selling plastic bottles, but the first Trump administration discontinued those guidelines.
In 2022, the Biden administration announced a plan to phase out all single-use plastic products from national parks and other public lands by 2032.
But at the end of May, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revoked that directive, saying it created “logistical and operational challenges” on public lands and “did not fully account for cost, performance, or safety considerations.” Burgum gave agencies 30 days to amend their guidelines and change contracts with vendors.
Burgum’s reversal comes on the heels of President Donald Trump signing an executive order targeting the “irrational campaign against plastic straws.”
Merkley’s Reducing Waste in National Parks Act aims to counter those reversals. The legislation was first introduced in Congress in 2017 when the first Trump administration reversed Obama-era guidelines on banning plastics in the parks.
“Oregonians and Americans love our national parks, but instead of protecting them from dangerous plastic pollution, Secretary Burgum is dead set on reopening the floodgates to plastic in our parks,” Merkley, a ranking member of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a statement. “Single-use plastics threaten our natural treasures and the ability of folks to enjoy their beauty.”
The Trump administration’s move on plastics comes as it has drastically cut staff at national parks, frozen some new hiring and proposed to slash park budgets.