Less than two weeks after putting the kibosh on plastic straws, Starbucks has run afoul of the environmental movement with a newly released mug showcasing Colorado’s oil-and-gas industry.
The blue Colorado mug, part of the coffee giant’s “Been There” series touting the distinctive features of U.S. states and cities, included drawings of bighorn sheep, pine trees, mountains, skiers — and a drilling rig.
Fracking foe Heidi Henkel of Broomfield called it “super insensitive,” while the anti-fracking group North Range Concerned Citizens launched the hashtag #oilandgasisnotcolorado.
“An oil rig doesn’t represent Colorado. Colorado is colorful; Colorado is scenic,” North Range co-founder Susan Noble told Denver7 News. “An oil rig represents the dangers to our children’s health; it represents the dangers to our air; it represents the dangers to our landscape.”
No response @Starbucks ? It is time to remove these from the shelves. https://t.co/WTokginUGS
— Kristi (@TheMountainSun) July 18, 2018
Wtf, @Starbucks? Who paid you? #oilandgasisnotcolorado pic.twitter.com/JCTnBzCZjC
— North Range Concerned Citizens (@NRConcerned) July 17, 2018
Dan Haley, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the inclusion of the oil-and-gas industry was appropriate, given its 150-year history and impact on the state.
“With over 100,000 workers and an annual economic impact of more than $31 billion, we are a central pillar of our state’s economy,” Mr. Haley said. “Like Palisade peaches, Coors beer, and the Denver Broncos, local energy production is about as Colorado as it gets.”
Fans of the industry countered on Twitter with their own hashtag: #oilandgasIScolorado.
Hey @Starbucks I think this mug perfectly represents #Colorado! Everything on here is something that makes CO great! #oilandgasISColorado #EnergyProud pic.twitter.com/xNDbuK3PEN
— Jake Taylor (@itsjustjake88) July 18, 2018
Starbucks did not immediately return a request for comment.
Starbucks drew cheers from environmentalists after announcing July 9 that it will phase out its plastic straws and replace them with strawless lids and “alternative material” straws, a move aimed at reducing ocean waste.
Critics have countered that it takes more energy to produce paper straws and that plastic straws represent a minute percentage of the waste, pointing to a recent study showing that 93 percent of ocean plastic pours in from 10 rivers in Asia and Africa.
Advocates for the disabled have also slammed the company’s move, pointing out that many customers with disabilities cannot drink their beverages without plastic straws.
Read more at The Washington Times
Oh Waah waah waah there is no satisfying these freaking tree huggers/Granola Bar Munchers their always whining about something i suggest they stick to Ben & Jerry and Get A Life
It will be interesting to see if Starbucks shows some backbone or pull the mugs running with their collective tails between their legs asking for mea culpa from the snowflake left.
The mug does NOT feature a drilling rig, or an oil rig, or anything else with the word rig in it. The mug features a very poor drawing of a pumpjack. Same industry – totally different item. Calling that a drilling rig is comparable to calling a wiper blade a tow truck.
The environmentalists reaction to the pumpjack is what you might expect if the letters KKK appeared. This just shows how extreme they are. They not only oppose the oil industry, but any symbol of it is treated like a profanity.
The North Range Useful Idiots Henkel and Susan Noble are perfect example of just how dumb these greens are like suing to have Human Rights desginated to a River
Coffee is a diuretic. If Starbucks’ customers are truly sincere, they could prove it by recycling their urine, instead of dumping it in the watershed.
Everything you read in the NYT’s or see on CNN is Lies Lies Lies ,
“An oil rig doesn’t represent Colorado. Colorado is colorful; Colorado is scenic,” We want grotesquely large subsidized wind turbines dominating the landscape and millions of acres of scoured land for subsidized solar panel farms. These are good for our children, good for our air and no danger to our landscape.