WEBVTT - S6 Part 1 | Plastic Pipelines | Ep 5: Whack-a-Mole 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:08.600 The situation is escalating as Diane Wilson had locked herself 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:12.399 by the neck to a fishing boat, blocking the entrance 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.720 of the Army Corps. The police have just arrived and 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:20.599 Diane Wilson is on her thirty sixth day of hunger strike. 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.880 She hasn't eaten a thing. That's her in her white 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.319 fishing boats. That is her coffin that she brought over 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.320 here to the Army Corps of Engineers. She said, to 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:33.639 kill the bay is to kill the fisherman, to kill 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:38.159 a community. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:42.040 I was arrested because we did a lockdown right in 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:47.320 front of the US Court Engineers in Dallaston, Texas. And 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.000 we had a boat, we had a motor, we had 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:56.360 a coffin. We were blocking the entrance to try to 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.680 get Captain Timothy Vale's attention, because he is the one 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:06.960 in the US Corp of Engineers who can revoke that project, 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.640 and he can, at the very least force supplemental environmental 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:12.480 impact study. 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:15.720 So it was trying to get his attention. 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:27.240 This is Diane Wilson, the shrimpboat captain turned environmental activist 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:31.120 you met in the first episode of this series. Dan 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:35.040 still lives in her hometown Point Comfort, Texas, and after 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.920 fighting for decades to save her local bay and the 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.240 fishermen who depend on it, she won a big lawsuit 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:47.400 against petrochemical giant for Mosa. It came with a fifty 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.480 million dollar settlement. But just as she was working with 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.240 the community to put that money to good use, a 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.960 new problem appeared on the horizon. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:03.320 Basically, it was a little known pipeline company. They called 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:08.200 themselves Max Midstream, and they wanted to put an oil 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:13.720 export cub in and they had the money to do 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.880 the dread GAM because they needed the dreg GAM because 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.680 they couldn't get their these big shifts in to haul 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:22.120 all of its crude all out. 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:27.680 The lawsuit against Formosa was just settled in December twenty nineteen. 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.480 It took a while for the details of the settlement 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.320 to be hammered out, and by then the COVID nineteen 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:37.239 pandemic had taken hold in the US. The local fishing 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.440 community in Point Comfort had only just started to meet 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.000 up in person and talk about their plans for this 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:47.200 sustainable fishing co op when they had a new problem. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:52.880 Max Midstream, a pipeline startup based in Houston, quietly purchased 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.000 a ten year old export terminal at the port and 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.240 Point Comfort. In late twenty twenty, the company had only 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.120 just launched it itself and the export terminal was one 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.120 of its big initial purchases. But despite the fact that 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:10.080 it's only a year old, Max Midstream is making some 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.000 big moves. In twenty twenty one, it announced a bold plan, 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:19.200 a one billion dollar expansion of the Seahawk Terminal in 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:25.760 Point Comfort Max midstreamline Max Midstream Ship's first grood cargo 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.800 from new termin forget about fish houses. They told local newspapers. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.680 They're going to turn this port into a quote major 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:38.480 oil export center, connecting oil from Texas's primary fracking centers, 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.120 the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin to the 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.440 European markets. But to do all that, they don't just 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:49.880 have to build more docks and expand the storage facilities. 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.400 They need to deepen and widen the port itself, and 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.800 that means dredging the bay. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.920 And it's one of the not the biggest, it's one 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:04.200 one of the biggest mercury underwater superfund sites in the 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.920 whole United States. Their own confidential documents admitted they lost 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.400 a million, two hundred thousand seven hundred pounds at mercury. 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.760 And they're sitting right here on this bay, or I'm 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:24.040 sitting right here on the bay. There's three mercury contamination signs. 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.839 Don't eat the fish, don't eat the crabs, and the 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:32.360 level of mercury and the red fish are the same 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.479 level they were back in nineteen ninety seven. So it 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.440 hasn't improved at all. 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.120 Not only is dredging likely to stir up mercury in 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.880 the bay, Wilson says it will destroy a marine ecosystem 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.400 that's barely hanging on as it is. 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:53.760 They are going to bury smother seven hundred acres of 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:59.720 oyster reefs. They are going to smother these seagrasses. Than 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:03.760 when they start deeping it and widen it, they will 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.480 all of the salt water from the Gulf will come 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:11.720 rushing into this based system that adds a very particular 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:16.320 balance on its salinity for all of these the crabs, 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.800 the fish, the shrimp, you name it. This is where 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.080 they're barn in these upper bays. And it will devastate, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:30.560 It will literally devastate the fisheries here. It will it 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:35.560 will totally set this wayback like it's never been set back. 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:48.719 Before the port authority thinks it's a great idea. In 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:52.640 a press release announcing the project, caloun Port Director Charles 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.719 Housman said, this will transform our port into a major 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.040 oil exporting center, and it will transform our area with 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:06.479 new jobs and new growth. Max Midstream has promised to 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.800 invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the project and 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.040 create hundreds of new jobs. Most of their initial permits 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:18.479 were fast tracked, but then Diane Wilson caught wind of 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:18.919 the plan. 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.719 Tell me a little bit about what prompted the hunger 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.719 strikes that you're on right now. Oh okay, Well, you know, 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.440 I just finished the lawsuit against Promosa, and we got 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:34.880 fifty million dollars for environmental projects, and we put twenty 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:40.320 million into a sustainable fishery co op that for the 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:46.040 local fishermont. And here you have the Navigation District going 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:50.560 into partnership with this little known high client guy and 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:56.520 they're going to dredge a ship channel. It will totally 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.800 set this wayback like it's never been stepped back before. 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:04.000 And the community of fishermen were that we're trying just 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.640 to survive. I mean, this is their last chance at survive. 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.520 It will wipe them out in the communities or these 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:17.360 fishermen ls. You know, they'll be gone. They're almost gone now. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:21.280 And this was the twenty million that we put into 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:26.920 this coop was a chance at reviving our communities. I mean, 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:28.120 it's going to devastate it. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.280 Wilson is seventy two now, and in April she went 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.720 on a hunger strike in protest of the dredging project. 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.560 More than a month later, the Texas Commission on Environmental 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:45.520 Quality announced that, due to significant interest, it would hold 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:49.320 a public meeting to discuss the air permit Max Midstream 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.600 needs for the project to move forward. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.920 This fault meeting is for an application by Max Midstream 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:55.880 Texas LLC. 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.280 The proposed permit number is one six to two. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.600 If granted the permit, it would allow Max Midstream to 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.400 increase greenhouse gas emissions by more than one hundred thousand 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:06.840 tons per year. 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.600 By there, This is Diane Wilson and I want Max 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:15.720 Smidstream to be forewarned that we will not give up 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.280 even if TCQ ignores what we have to say and 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.080 gives us permit. You can bet your baby on that 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:26.280 we are not given up. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.440 This kind of thing where you win one environmental fight 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:40.720 only to run smack into another one is incredibly common. 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.720 Sharon Levine is dealing with it over in Louisiana too. 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.360 She had a big win on the proposed formosa plant there. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.960 It's on hold until at least twenty twenty two while 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:56.760 the Army Corps rethinks its permits. But now she's fighting 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:00.439 the expansion of a methanol plant in Saint James. Here 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.199 she is at a permit hearing for the expansion. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:08.360 In two thousand fourteen, southwag Is In A Methanone got 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:13.439 approved to build its methanol plant. That area was existing 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:19.640 residential slash future industrial. In two thousand eighteen, Clyde Cooper 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.280 had this whole area to change into a residential growth. 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:29.360 Southwareesi and A Methanone is trying to sneak this expansion 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.559 into the two thousand and four to two plane. Our 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:38.840 Parents Council can can stop this. If this campens, it 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.880 will expand in their residential area and if it is 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:48.320 expanding beyond this lame use of approval and requires new 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:55.240 parish approval. If this facility is built, it will destroyed 0:09:55.360 --> 0:10:00.360 welcome park. Our children will not have a park because 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:02.720 they will not be able to breathe the air. 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:09.040 This game of whack a mole is one that activists 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:11.640 are all too familiar with, and it's what we're going 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.800 to look at this episode. It's the finale of part 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:18.200 one in our Bridge to Nowhere season coming up after 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:19.680 this quick break. 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.880 But I think there is enough of a market trend 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.040 for the fossil fuel industry to recognize that they're going 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:33.559 to just sell less product. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:38.160 This is Judith Innk, a former EPA regional administrator and 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.640 the president of Beyond Plastics. In a lot of ways, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:45.160 the current plastic buildout is the perfect example of the 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:45.600 whack a. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.920 Mole problem, and so they've teamed up with their partners 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.760 in the chemical industry to make petrochemical production their plan B. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:11:02.760 And this is unfolding around the country, most noted in Louisiana, Texas. 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:07.560 And then the first big ethyne cracker plant or the 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:12.760 new generation of ethne crackers coming online in Pennsylvania the 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:17.040 Shell Facility later this year. We also see proposals in 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:23.200 the Ohio River Valley. So without one vote by the public, 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:31.560 without much transparency, billions of dollars in investment is proceeding 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:39.319 relying on waste gas from hydrofracking sites being transported by 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:45.680 new pipelines to new ethyne cracker facilities that will be 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:52.199 working hard to transform waste fracked gas into the new 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:55.679 main ingredient for single use plastic packaging. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.400 So as activist journalists, scientists, and more have raised awareness 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.840 about climate change and the role that fossil fuels play 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:08.440 in exacerbating it, and as politicians have come around to 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.959 the idea of regulating emissions, the industry has just found 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.280 a new market for its product. It's not just the 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.400 whack a mole problem on steroids. It also reveals that 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:24.040 the industry's story that it's just supplying a demand is 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:28.439 a lie, and it brings together the two industries most 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:34.400 notorious for fighting regulation, fossil fuels and chemicals, together on 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.440 the same side. 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:42.280 The petrochemical industry fights tooth and nail on any legislative 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:46.839 proposal that will reduce the demand for packaging, something as 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:52.640 simple as a city proposing a plastic bag ban or 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:59.040 a county wanting to ban single use polystyrene foam food packaging. 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:03.800 The Chemistry Council and their state affiliates show up in 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:10.079 force sharing, inaccurate information, working literally at the city council 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:16.000 level to try to block anything that suppresses demand for 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:17.920 single use plastic. 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.080 And they're effective. It might seem like America is a 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:25.199 wash in bag bands and straw restrictions, but in fact 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:26.640 not so much. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.760 We do have about one thousand local laws on the 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.560 books and state laws on the books to reduce the 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:38.280 demand for plastic, but we have far more communities that 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:42.000 have done nothing to reduce the demand for plastic. You know, 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:43.640 it's a funny perception thing. 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.160 And just like the natural gas industry has been pushing 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:52.760 preemptive laws to stop cities and counties from passing gas bands, yes, 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.439 preemptive bans on bands, there's been a push in some 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.600 state and local governments to preemptively base in plastic bag 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:07.200 bands too. Another place's kind of preemptive law is showing 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.440 up is in the state governments that are trying to 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.959 pass bands on masking mandates. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.200 The other thing I observe is that when you do 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:20.000 get a good policy on the books, the industry lobbyists 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:25.840 are very active in wanting to have loopholes or poison pills, 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.680 for instance, something as simple as plastic bag bands. What 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:35.720 they push for is thicker plastic bags rather than film 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:40.080 plastic bags, and then they lie and they say it 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.640 can be reused one hundred and twenty five times, and 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:43.680 that never happens. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:48.280 Ink encourages activists to pay close attention to the details 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.200 and offers model bills on the Beyond Plastics site. But 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:57.640 she's already anticipating the next mole to whack exports. Remember 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.600 last episode, we heard from investigative journalist Lawrence Carter at 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:06.320 Unearthed about what one of Exonmobile's lobbyists said about this. 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.760 Pathan Groy talks about how they want to take this 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.880 kind of cheap feedstock and actually, rather than manufactured plastic 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.040 in the US, to turn it into liquified natural gas, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:22.560 ship it over to petrochemical facilities that they have in 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.920 Asia and in Australia so that they can crank up 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:28.960 plastic sales in those places. 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.360 Ink is already seeing that strategy play out. 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.240 The other thing is, I think the petrochemical industry is 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.920 really counting on a lot of exports. There are some 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:46.800 facilities that are being designed just for export of pre 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:52.840 production pellets or LNG exports, and so they are banking 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:59.200 on large new markets in Asia and Africa to export 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.680 the main and radiance of plastic. I think over time 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.920 we will pass a number of very strong state bills 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.480 to reduce plastic. Not sure we've got the political power 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.640 to do anything very significant just yet at the federal level, 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.760 but we'll have some good state bills on the books 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:22.640 and that'll reduce demand. And then you see this giant 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:28.320 pivot to export. And from a climate change perspective, these 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:33.480 are global emissions. So whether you have effne cracker facilities 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:39.920 emitting gargantuan amounts of carbon in Pennsylvania or Europe, it's 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:44.440 all going to affect our climate internationally. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.640 So now we have some insight into what this big 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:55.160 giant l G export terminal endpoint comfort might be doing. Meanwhile, 0:16:55.440 --> 0:17:01.080 the industry has successfully painted plastic as an individual sumer problem, 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:05.840 and often as a mom problem. Just buy your kids 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.760 bamboo utensils an aluminum straw as mom's problem solved. The 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.199 fossil fuel and chemical industries have also done a phenomenal 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:19.439 job convincing the public that plastic is absolutely indispensable and 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.320 that until there's some sort of alternative to it, we're 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:26.720 hooked on petrochemicals and particularly on plastic. Whether you like 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:27.119 it or not. 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:32.920 The alternative is to simply use less plastic, and that 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.960 may mean a shift toward reusables and refillables, which is terrific, 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:43.720 that is job producing. It could be simply getting rid 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:48.560 of some packaging altogether. You go to any supermarket and 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:52.680 it's a plastic nightmare, and you have layers and layers 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:56.520 of plastic, a great deal of which is not actually 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.119 holding the product. And then you know, the third altern 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:07.600 is really basic alternatives to plastic, like recycled cardboard, recycled class, 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.440 recycled aluminum and metal. You know, there's this odd dynamic 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.879 where people are waiting for the next big breakthrough on 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:18.760 alternatives to plastics. And you know, I'm a big fan 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:24.000 of using my cilium, for instance mushrooms rather than petroleum 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.159 based plastic. That's been slow going. But the alternative to 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:33.679 plastic is in your kitchen pantry right now. You know, 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.680 cereal box, it's the metal can of soup. What I'm 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:42.359 really shocked at. I have one kid and he's all 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.600 grown up, but I'm not in the baby food aisle much. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.639 I just skip the aisle. Well, one of the most 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.760 terrifying things is going down the baby food aisle in 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:58.600 the supermarket, massive shift to plastic, including plastic pouches. Ironically, 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:02.280 often to give your darling baby organic food in a 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:08.199 plastic pouch. A lot of that could be cardboard, glass, metal. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:13.560 So it's not like the electricity sector where I would say, 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:18.040 instead of petroleum based plastics, use bio based plastics. It's 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.320 really using less plastic, and we can do that. You know, 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.520 we don't need a Manhattan project on this. 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.040 But INC is quick to point out that simply using 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.800 less plastic is not something consumers are often given the 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.919 choice to do, at least not easily or cheaply. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.840 Voluntary solutions just aren't working. I mean, I do encourage 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:42.320 people to try to use less plastic, but often it's impossible. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.600 I mean, I try to avoid plastic and I've got 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:48.520 it all over my kitchen because there are not alternatives 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:50.760 in the supermarket, or even when I have time to 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.359 go to the food co op, there's often not alternatives. 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:58.000 But you know, it's fascinating to watch the messaging machine 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:00.720 of the fossil fuel industry for years talk to us 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:06.120 about reducing our own carbon footprint, shifting responsibility to individuals. 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:11.240 I'm now seeing the phrase plastic footprint and a concerted 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:15.800 effort to shift the narrative toward all of us need 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.920 to play a role and reduce or use of plastic. Well, 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:24.000 good luck with that. It's virtually impossible. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:34.240 So rather than recommending a particular type of straw or 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:39.320 reusable water bottle, she suggests a different type of individual action. 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:43.800 From an environmental perspective and a job's perspective, a really 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:49.400 big push to refillables and reusables is needed, especially in 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:55.000 restaurants and cafes. And there's a feisty little group called Upstream, 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.920 and if you go to upstream solutions dot org, they 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:04.240 are just really providing wonderful information on how businesses can 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.399 shift to reusables and refillables and it often saves the 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:12.800 money if they can make the initial investment in dishwashing equipment. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.520 And if you want to push for policy changes, inc says, 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.480 focus on state legislators or better yet, the EPA. 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:23.000 But a lot of people don't realize and I didn't 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:25.840 fully appreciate it, to be honest, until I worked at 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.960 the EPA during the Obama administration. Is the state agencies 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:33.160 hold most of the cards. The way most of the 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.720 federal anti pollution statutes like the Clean Air Act the 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.960 Clean Water Act. The way they work is those programs 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:44.720 are delegated to the states, so EPA kind of provides 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:48.880 the floor, often not the ceiling, and provides not enough 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:53.240 money to the states. And Richard Nixon's theory when he 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:56.119 established the EPA fifty two years ago was that the 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:59.360 states are closer to the people in a better position 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:03.359 to really assis impacts. I don't disagree with that, but 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:07.359 over the years there's been this terrible culture at the EPA, 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:10.600 including when I was there, to defer to the states. 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:15.480 And if the Biden Harris administration is going to defer 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:17.879 to the state of Louisiana, the state of Texas, the 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:22.320 state of Ohio, the state of Pennsylvania, we are in 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.760 the soup when it comes to the petrochemical build out 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:32.159 because the states are very supportive, mostly because of the 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.200 political influence of these special interests. And then the public 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:40.320 stated reason is because of job creation. But if you've 0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:44.480 got Louisiana, Texas, in Ohio in the driver's seat, we 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:46.720 are not in a good spot. And this is where 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:52.480 the EPA needs to exercise their oversight authority, which they 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:57.320 can easily do if they want to tackle climate change. 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:01.400 That's it for this TI time and for part one 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:04.520 of season six. We'll be back soon with parts two 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:08.679 and three about the natural gas industries, anti regulation tactics, 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.200 and what happened when first fracking and in plastic came 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:18.240 to one rural county on the Ohio Pennsylvania border. But first, 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:21.040 kids are going back to school, and we've partnered with 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:23.320 our pals over at earther to bring you a series 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:27.760 about the fossil fuel industry's role in shaping education, not 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:33.600 just science education, but civics, social studies, political science, economics, 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:37.120 all the things that really set the parameters on how 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:41.680 a society functions and what sorts of solutions were even 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.879 allowed to think about. Make sure you're subscribed so you 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:48.280 don't miss it. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:56.560 next time. Drilled is an original production of the Critical 0:23:56.560 --> 0:24:01.440 Frequency podcast Network. The show is report written and hosted 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:05.720 by me Amy Westervelt. Our producer this season is Juliana Bradley. 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:09.719 Our editor is Julia Ritchie. Our theme song this season 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.679 is death Song by b Bemon. Additional music for the 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:17.840 season composed by Elliott Peltzman. Our artwork for the season 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:22.240 is done by Matthew Fleming. Our First Amendment attorney is 0:24:22.320 --> 0:24:26.200 James Wheaton at the First Amendment Project. You can find 0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:30.359 additional reporting and photos for this season on our twitter 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:35.119 feed at We Are Drilled or online at drillednews dot com. 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:38.119 If you're a fan of the show, please consider supporting 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:41.840 us in two ways. One, if you want to spend 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:45.719 some money and get some extra bonus content at early episodes, 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:49.640 check out our Patreon at patreon dot com slash Drilled. 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:52.840 You can also support us by giving us a rating 0:24:52.960 --> 0:24:56.440 or review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps us by 0:24:56.480 --> 0:25:01.200 new listeners and combat the army of climate denier trolls 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.680 that are constantly trying to tank our ratings. Thanks for 0:25:04.720 --> 0:25:15.000 doing that and we'll see you next week.