<p>
</p>
<p>You can start a sentence with “but,” but the way you used it and the way the sentence in question uses it is not desirable. Why break off the natural flow of the sentence, establish a pause with the semicolon, and continue on with “but” when you can just use a comma? </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Like in the above example, you can use “but” with a semicolon, but there’s no reason for it. In this sentence, however, it is desirable because the clauses utilize multiple commas.</p>
<p>Yes, you can start a sentence off with “and” and “but,” but only in cases where it is desirable.</p>