Plastic waste

The crisis piece I’ll write 10 years from now

We're building an enormous plastics problem.

You may remember that in 2018 some prominent scientists gave us a 12 year deadline to fix climate change.


I'm more certain of this bit of environmental punditry than I've been about anything in my life: In the year 2030, American policymakers will have finally caught up to the notion that climate change is every bit the existential crisis that many of us already know it to be.

But I fear a decade on we'll still be nowhere close to caught up to the notion that we're building an enormous plastics crisis.

Sharp reporters, including our own Kristina Marusic, are on to the oil and gas industry's efforts to prolong its own life. Massive projects aiming to turn fracked gas into plastics are on the books for Western Pennsylvania and Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" Chemical Corridor.

Shell Chemical's $6 billion plastic pellets plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, will guarantee jobs for decades in the hard-hit region. It will also guarantee a whopping increase in carbon emissions and a lifeline for the oil and gas industry, while providing a primary source of plastic.

In St. James Parish, Louisiana, local activists continue a pitched battle against a $9.4 billion Formosa Plastics plant along the Mississippi. Both promise to extend the lives of oil, gas, and plastic, despite compelling environmental arguments that all three should be fading out.

What else will we still be exhuming ourselves from in 10 years?

  • The failure of recycling: One of the biggest end-markets for recycled paper has been newsprint. The Pew Research Center estimates that daily newspaper circulation has halved since the 1980's, and if, unlike me, you still pick one up every day, you know the paper is less than half its former size. For years, plastics recyclers have relied on shipping plastic waste to operations in Africa and Asia (particularly China). Now, plastics designated for recycling bins often ends up in the landfill or municipal incinerator. Recycling has long served to assuage many Americans' guilt that driving an SUV six miles one-way to the recycling center will guarantee them a seat in eco-heaven at the feet of St. Francis of Assissi and Rachel Carson.
  • The durability of denial: Facts and logic are often poor weapons against denial. Don't expect climate deniers, COVID-19 deniers, or anti-vaxxers, to ever completely go away. Just look at how heavily the Republicans leaned on Socialist "Red Scare" ad themes from 60 years ago, or racist ads that smacked of the 1988 Willie Horton ads that helped sink Michael Dukakis.
  • Mitigating circumstance: The fever has finally broken on Donald Trump. I'm predicting that his 2024 comeback attempt draws less support than his losing 2020 run, for which he still has not conceded. His choice of the ever-popular and effervescent then-103 year-old Betty White as his 2024 running mate won't likely help. Just kidding, of course she would help.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo credit: Sabrina Raaf/flickr

Hollywood sign on the side of a hill in California.

Hollywood films are still avoiding real-world climate stories

Despite growing public concern over climate change, most Oscar-nominated films still fail to acknowledge it, leaving environmental themes largely confined to sci-fi and fantasy.

Claire Elise Thompson reports for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Finnish town on the bank of a river

Finland’s disaster preparedness guide offers lessons for Canada

Finland’s interactive crisis preparedness guide provides residents with practical steps for handling emergencies, offering a model that could help Canadians better prepare for disasters.

Crawford Kilian reports for The Tyee.

Keep reading...Show less
Canberra at dusk with view of parliament house lit up on a hill.

Canberra proves a fossil-fuel nation can run on renewables

Australia’s capital, Canberra, has been powered entirely by renewable energy since 2020, making it a standout in a country still heavily reliant on coal and gas.

Stuart Braun reports for Deutsche Welle.

Keep reading...Show less
A young Black man in blue sweater using silver macbook in front of a data server.

Brazil’s data center boom raises concerns over energy access

As Brazil attracts billions in investment for new data centers, millions of people still face regular blackouts and energy shortages, highlighting tensions between digital expansion and basic electricity needs.

Thiago Lima reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Green backhoe digging hole in the middle of a massive pile of black coal.

China urged to halt coal power expansion as approvals surge

The European Union’s ambassador to China has called on Beijing to stop approving new coal-fired power plants, warning that the country’s rapid expansion of coal projects contradicts its renewable energy leadership.

Amy Hawkins reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Wind turbines viewed from above with squres of green and fallow fields below.

Congress hears warnings that cutting renewable energy incentives could drive up costs

Energy experts told lawmakers that rolling back Biden-era tax credits for renewables could slow grid expansion, raise electricity costs, and make it harder to meet surging energy demand.

Katie Surma reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
grey wooden pathway surrounded by trees.

Trump administration moves to end Army Corps’ Florida headquarters lease

The Trump administration plans to terminate the lease for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville headquarters, which plays a key role in Everglades restoration and hurricane response, leaving employees uncertain about their future.

Amy Green reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.