Letter: Plastics are the new coal in carbon emissions
By Ellen Neumaier | November 9, 2021 | The Buffalo News
We couldn't agree more with your Viewpoints article, "Global warming bill is vital" (Buffalo News, Oct. 24), accompanied by a large photo of belching smokestacks from a coal-fired plant.
It is imperative we switch to renewable energy as quickly as possible to save our planet. It is also extremely important to understand where all our emissions originate. We need to publish the fact that plastic is the new coal.
A new report from Beyond Plastics at Bennington College, "The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change," documents the U.S. plastics industry's significant, yet rarely acknowledged, contributions to climate crisis.
As of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of C02e gas emissions per year, equivalent to average emissions from 116, 500-megawatt, coal-fired power plants, the report states.
U.S. petrochemical infrastructure is being built at an alarming rate. Emissions from the petrochemical industry are on track to surpass those of coal-fired power in the US by 2030. Failure to act to reduce plastics' contribution to climate change threatens global mitigation efforts.
We need solutions to the climate crisis now.
Please read this report, contact your legislators. Ask them to pass the Break free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA) that puts a moratorium on federal permits for new plastics plants and requires producers to be responsible for their end products.
And, please, let's all stop buying one-use throw-away plastic products.