Tell Congress: Don’t Bail Out the Plastics Industry

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

The plastics industry is lobbying Congress for a $1 billion bailout.¹

Plastic producers are asking the U.S. House of Representatives for taxpayer dollars to help them out during COVID-19. This is the last thing the federal government should be concerned with right now. With our waterways already drowning in plastic pollution, it’s time to move beyond plastic, not produce more.

Our taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent furthering plastic pollution. Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=38302 to tell Congress: No bailout for the plastics industry.

More than 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s. About 60 percent of that plastic has either ended up in a landfill or in our environment.² There, it contaminates waterways and threatens marine wildlife.

For a bird, fish or turtle, it’s easy to mistake a small piece of plastic for food — especially when there are millions of pieces of plastic floating in our lakes, rivers and oceans. Scientists have found plastic fragments in hundreds of species, including in 86 percent of all sea turtle species and 44 percent of all seabird species.³

Congress needs to protect wildlife and waterways — not prop up plastic pollution.

Let your elected officials know that you oppose bailing out the plastics industry.

The plastics industry is working to make its voice heard in Washington, D.C. A coalition of oil and gas companies have sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives requesting infrastructure relief.⁴ Now, it’s time for the U.S. House to hear from you.

Tell your U.S. representative to block a bailout for the plastics industry.

1. Alex Lubben, “The Pandemic Is Bringing Back Single-Use Plastics in a Huge Way,” Vice, May 11, 2020.
2. “Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution,” UN Environment, 2018.
3. Jose G.B. Derraik, “The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review,” Marine Pollution Bulletin, September 2002.
4. Sharon Lerner, “Big Plastic Asks for $1 Billion Coronavirus Bailout,” The Intercept, April 27, 2020.