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There’s Good News

Editor, News-Register:

Almost all of the time the national news about the environment greatly depresses me, especially the news of Trump continuously taking a wrecking ball to our fragile environment.

Trump has unleashed an unprecedented assault on our environment and the health of our communities. His policies threaten our climate, air, water, public lands, wildlife, and oceans.

Trump’s administration has weakened Obama-era limits on planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and from cars and trucks.

Trump’s removal of America from the Paris Climate Agreement, and promotion of coal and support for the oil industry are acts of great harm to our delicate environment.

But recently, lo and behold, there have been two terrific favorable major developments: the significant decline in coal and the invention of plant-based plastic.

DECLINE IN COAL: A new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected “the US would produce more electricity this year from renewable than from coal for the first time.”

Rob Jackson, the chair of Global Carbon Project commented, “COVID-19 will slash coal emissions so much this year that the industry will never recover … The crash in natural gas prices, record-cheap solar and wind power, and climate and health concerns have undercut the industry permanently.”

PLANT PLASTICS: The end of plastic? New plastic bottles will degrade in a year using plant-based bottles,” according to Jillian Ambrose reporting for the Guardian on May 16.

“Globally around 300 million tonnes of plastic is made from fossil fuels every year, which is a major contributor to the climate crisis. Most of this is not recycled and contributes to the scourge of micro plastics in the world’s oceans. Micro plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose completely,” according to The Guardian.

Moreover, “This plant-based plastic has very attractive sustainability credentials because it uses no fossil fuels, and can be recycled — but would also degrade in nature much faster than normal plastics do.

“Plant plastic is designed to be resilient enough to contain carbonate drinks. Trials have shown that the plant plastic would decompose in one year using a composter, and a few years longer if left in normal outdoor conditions.”

Let America get well quick and create many new, high-paid jobs in the coming great expansion in the clean energy and plant-based plastic industries.

Bill Bryant

St. Clairsville

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