Pointing Fingers at Plastic The push to stop transforming fossil fuels to plastic has not received the attention it deserves. We easily point fingers (and rightfully so) at the transportation sector as a contributor to climate change; in response, there’s a push for solar energy and electric vehicles as preferential climate change solutions. Climate solutions …

Top notch greenhouse gas results post-pandemic Did you know, greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. CO₂) dropped 33% during the pandemic? According to new research, levels of carbon dioxide (a problem child greenhouse gas) fell drastically in both Los Angeles and Washington D.C./ Baltimore. This may not come as a surprise to you, as people weren’t able …

Mo Pipeline, Mo Problems The Biden administration urges Americans not to hoard gasoline, following the ransomware attack that caused the Colonial Pipeline to shut down. Gasoline shortages have hit the South the hardest, but this article noted shortages have been occurring in Virginia as well. Transportation is one of the largest contributors to global greenhouse …

Long Time, Still See: plastic rocks in the geologic record Scientists have recently found plastics in a deep-sea submarine trenches in the South China Sea. They have begun to investigate how plastics and microplastics break down in the deep sea, to determine the lifecycle of seafloor plastic. The rock record of earth’s history preserves evidence …

Can a Story About Litter Be Lovable? This wholesome news about two little girls receiving a response to their letters to Santa sent via balloon demonstrates unintended consequences of balloon releases. In addition to the generous stranger in this story that provided the girls a gift that their family couldn’t afford due to the pandemic, …

Wastewater Wall on the Brink of Collapse A crew from the Army Corps of Engineers are working overtime in the effort to prevent a collapse of a wastewater pond in Manatee County, Florida by pumping millions of gallons of fertilizer waste into Port Manatee on Tampa Bay. This waste is known to be bad for …

Blossomed Out from Climate Change Have you noticed cherry blossoms flowering earlier and earlier each year? In the hundred year blooming National Park Service record, bloom dates have jumped forward about a week. Earlier bloom dates make cherry blossoms more susceptible to spring freezes and if blooms are damaged during freezes they no longer flower …

Tons of waste with nowhere to go: Forty-two million metric tons of plastic waste was contributed to land and sea by the United States in 2016. This ends up being 286 pounds of plastic waste per person a year! Where does all of this plastic waste go? Almost 90% of all US recyclable plastic is …

This short legislative session has been a real test on our one last good nerve. In reference to SB 1164, the bill that would classify chemical conversion (chemical recycling) as a manufacturing process, the bill co-patron had this pithy quote aimed at environmentalists who have been working overtime presenting testimony and data for why it …