Plastics and Air Pollution

My recent piece on waste plastic dealt with the pollution of our oceans. It’s going to take an enormous amount of time, capital resources, and tech R&D to solve this problem.

Here’s a video on a subject that may be even more disturbing: the combustion of waste plastic in countries that don’t have environmental regulations.  It’s a function of the fact that this fuel source is one-third the price of wood in Indonesia, but given the destruction of the air quality standards in places like Brazil and the U.S., it could soon be happening essentially anywhere.

To our children’s generation: No wonder so many of you are dedicating yourselves to environmental stewardship, and that you are as frustrated as hell that the so-called grown-ups around you are doing such a pathetic job.  Work hard, and good luck.