"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Trump's America Vs. The Environment, Part ?

The Trump regime >strikes yet again:

Almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception, United Nations environmental officials said Friday.

An agreement on tracking thousands of types of plastic waste emerged at the end of a two-week meeting of U.N.-backed conventions on plastic waste and toxic, hazardous chemicals. Discarded plastic clutters pristine land, floats in huge masses in oceans and entangles wildlife, sometimes with deadly results.

Rolph Payet of the United Nations Environment Program said the “historic” agreement linked to the 186-country, U.N.-supported Basel Convention means countries will have to monitor and track movements of plastic waste outside their borders.

I'm sure you've heard of the continent-sized plastic island in the North Pacific; there's one in the North Atlantic as well.

It's symptomatic of the Trump regime -- and the Republican ruling class -- that we would not adhere to this agreement: a) It's the UN, which the Republicans have hated since its inception, and b) it's the environment, for which the Republicans have never had any concern.

Here's the Pacific plastic island in all its glory:


It's not the only one: there are five oceanic gyres, and each one has an island of plastic:


And the stuff can be recycled: I'm sure I've mentioned before that the Nature Boardwalk at South Pond, administered by Lincoln Park Zoo, is made of recycled plastics. And more an more park benches are the same.

Of course, the real solution is not to use plastic to begin with.

Via Joe.My.God.

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