Plastic Is Everywhere Except In Democrats' Plans For A Fossil Fuel-Free Future

By Ramsey Touchberry | April 8, 2022 | The Washington Times

It’s the overlooked — often forgotten — petroleum product left out of Democrats’ clean energy agenda: plastics.

The petrochemical industry is on pace to become the leading driver of global oil demand and potentially more difficult for opponents of greenhouse gases to eliminate than gasoline-powered cars.

Petrochemicals are a vast array of products derived from oil and natural gas. They include plastics that are essential components of everyday items.

Plastics are in clothes, building materials, furniture, auto parts, drink cans, tea bags, toothpaste, nail polish and chewing gum.

Petrochemicals are expected to account for more than one-third of the growth in global oil demand by 2030 and almost half the growth by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency. That means nearly 7 million barrels of oil and 83 billion cubic meters of natural gas per day will be needed by 2050 for petrochemicals alone, outpacing cars, planes and trucks to become the world’s largest driver of oil demand.

The Center for International Environmental Law estimates that if current levels persist, the production and incineration of plastics will be the equivalent of 615 coal-fired power plants by 2050. 

Greenhouse gas emissions from plastics will overtake coal-fired plants in the U.S. by 2030, according to a study by Beyond Plastics, an environmental policy research center based at Bennington College in Vermont.

Yet plastics and the petrochemical industry are virtually nonexistent in the climate change debate in Washington.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including Democrats who back the Green New Deal and other aggressive climate change policies, acknowledge they know little about how the petrochemical industry fits into plans for a clean energy future.

“When we’re talking about an energy transition, it’s important to acknowledge how deeply ingrained fossil fuels are in so many industries, like plastic or steel production, and how many jobs depend on this. The idea that we could transition to 100% renewable energy tomorrow is ideological blindness,” said Christopher Barnard, national policy director at the conservative-leaning American Conservation Coalition.

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