Plastic pollution is a major problem for the world. Not only does plastic pollution choke\nwaterways, devastate sea life, and pose a health threat, but plastic\nmanufacturing also plays a significant role in the fight over curbing greenhouse\ngas emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crisis over the mass production and disposal of\nplastic products hit home when the Chinese government made a decision in 2017\nnot to accept any more of our plastic waste. \nChina had been one of the nation\u2019s chief dumping grounds for plastic\ntrash since the mid-1990s. Its refusal\nto continue has forced American national, state and local governments to\ngrapple with the excessive amount of plastic pollution we generate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, plastic pollution has had a devastating\nimpact on the world\u2019s oceans. Pictures\nof sea life killed or injured by plastic products highlighted, in a way no\npolicy paper could, that plastic trash in the oceans poses a threat to the\nanimals and fish that live there. \nEstimates are that by the middle of this century, there will be more\nplastic than fish \u2013 by weight \u2013 in the oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plastic products can leach contaminants that pose a\npublic health threat. Black plastic,\nused in everything from kitchen utensils to children\u2019s toys, cellphone cases,\nand thermoses, appears to be particularly dangerous. The plastic is often sourced from recycled\nelectronics that contain phthalates and heavy metals. Even at very low levels, these chemicals can\ncause serious health problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The spread of single-use plastics often sold to consumers\nas protection from contamination, has allowed the underlying chemicals that\nmake up plastics to show up in our food and water. Bottled water, sales of which are increasing in\npart because people are seeking alternatives to contaminated local water\nsupplies, now contain plastic as well. A 2018 study found that 93 percent of\nbottled water samples contained microplastics, the tiny bits of plastic that\nresult as plastic breaks down into smaller pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to the rising environmental and public health threats\nposed by plastics, a growing number of communities are enacting new\nrestrictions. In March, the European\nUnion voted to ban single-use plastics by 2021. In June, Canada followed suit, with its Prime\nMinister pledging to not just ban single-use plastics such as bags,\nstraws, and cutlery, but also to hold plastics manufacturers responsible for\ntheir waste. One hundred and forty-one\ncountries, including China, Bangladesh, India, and thirty-four African\nnations, have implemented taxes or partial bans on plastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in the United States, eight states have enacted\nplastic restrictions and more than 330 local plastic bag ordinances have passed\nin 24 states. Thanks to passage of\nlegislation this year, New York State will ban the distribution of single-use\nplastic bags in March of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The industry is now organizing itself to combat this\nrising tide of new restrictions on plastics. \nAnd here is the global warming tie in. \nPlastic is almost entirely the product of fossil fuels. Plastics are derived from materials such as\ncellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, oil and gas companies are deeply engaged in the\ncurrent plastics market now worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Historically low oil and gas prices have meant\nthat the cost of making new plastic is very low. The low prices have led to the expansions of\nold plastic-producing plants and the construction of new ones by Chevron,\nShell, Dow, and Exxon, among other companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given the sources of plastic, the fossil fuel industry\nhas a stake in its success and is deeply involved in fighting efforts to reduce\nthe world\u2019s use of plastics. The various\nplastics trade associations include big oil companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two tactics that they are employing include state laws\nthat prohibit localities from enacting municipal restrictions. This tactic is based on the reasonable belief\nthat the industry\u2019s wealth and political connections make it far more likely to\nsucceed in blocking legislation at the state level than in the hundreds of\nlocalities, which are much more sensitive to an energized public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also tout the \u201crecyclability\u201d of plastic. Recycling plastic sounds good, but\nessentially doesn\u2019t exist in practice. \nFor example, in 2015, the U.S. recycled about 9 percent of its plastic\nwaste, and since then the number has dropped even lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plastics just end up being dumped in landfills or burned\nin incinerators (which creates its own environmental and public health\nproblems). Given the threat of plastics,\nwhat should be done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in New York, the state has enacted a strong ban on\nthe retail use of plastic bags; now it must implement it with strong\nregulations that do not create loopholes for certain plastic bags and which do\nnot undermine existing local bans. Then\nthe state should follow the lead of some localities that have banned other\nplastic products. And lastly, New York\nshould expand its bottle deposit law to include new products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fight over plastics is a fight about the enormous\nwaste our society generates, but it is also a battle with an industry that has\ndone more than anyone to pollute the planet and has threatened life on this\nplanet \u2013 through the burning of oil, coal and gas which has triggered global\nwarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are existential fights; ones we have to win. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Plastic pollution is a major problem for the world. Not only does plastic pollution choke waterways, devastate sea life, and pose a health threat, but plastic manufacturing also plays a significant role in the fight over curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The crisis over the mass production and disposal of plastic products hit home when the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2279,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions\/2279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}