Legislative Agenda Item: Make Plastics Out of Safe, Renewable Materials

On the topic of squeezing fossil fuels out of our lives, this from an opinion piece by Susan Freinkel, author of the forthcoming “Plastic: A Toxic Love Story.”

"Yet we can’t hope to achieve plastic’s promise for the 21st century if we stick with wasteful 20th-century habits of plastic production and consumption. We have the technology to make better, safer plastics — forged from renewable sources, rather than finite fossil fuels, using chemicals that inflict minimal or no harm on the planet and our health. We have the public policy tools to build better recycling systems and to hold businesses accountable for the products they put into the market. And we can also take a cue from the plastic purgers about how to cut wasteful plastic out of our daily lives."

Putting the Squeeze On Climate Change

(This can also be found in the "Squeeze Concept" page) Lots of numbers and good intentions have been thrown at the looming beast called climate change. Goals like 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 were meant to spur action, but clearly something is missing. The image below is a simple rendering to help visualize what needs to be done, essentially a "squeezing" of fossil fuels out of the economy and out of our lifestyles.

The vertical axis represents the nation's energy needs. The space in the graph above the year 2010 is mostly red, representing the current dependency on fossil fuels. As time travels to the right, people steadily "squeeze" fossil fuel out of their lives, by learning to use less of it (energy conservation) and installing more renewable energies like wind and solar.