Not necessarily to "blame" but there could have been much better regulations on plastics years ago to make recycling a more common practice nowadays. "Big Oil" has put the screws to us for years by manipulating the so-called "supply and demand" theory. Does anyone actually believe that a gallon of gas is actually worth $4.50 right now? But because of the lack of regulation, the rich get richer and the poor pad their pockets. Big Oil could have had huge influences years ago to push recycling, but as previously mentioned, there's not as much money in it. And here we are....If recycling was in place, we could be using all of the plastics that are currently on the face of the earth as recycles, but instead we drill for petroleum and make more virgin materials because there's more profit in it. All the petroleum used for those new virgin resins could be going toward supplying oil and gas, pushing those prices down as well. Viscous circle...I just think our governing offices could have done better for the people, instead of a few people, years ago.
Laws are passed, and regulations enforced, by those we elect. Greenies, Al Gore and the like have been trying for literally decades to get Congress to do something to address these very visible, growing concerns of pollution and climate change before an irreversible catastrophe was upon us. But WE the people, through our elected representatives, studiously ignored and actually castigated environmental activists.
We STILL do that. Frustrating just how selfish and short-sighted we are as a society. But, if it makes us feel better to blame 'others', that is our constitutional right and no-one is going to take that away from us, by gosh.
Mother nature is NOT impressed.
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