Among the eco-sensitive there is much discussion of plastic. Occasionally, it bubbles to the surface using words like “microplastics” (otherwise known as initial breakdown products that just might further degrade over time) and much discussion of plastic on the ocean surface and now plastic on the ocean floor. We’ve banned thin plastic bags in some states, restaurants have altered packaging and life generally is being made ever more expensive while people fret over changing the planet that is constantly changing anyway. I find the plastics fascination particularly interesting.

Plastics have come and gone and come back again as a “source” of pollution. Back when concern for the environment first became a “movement,” it was widely discussed. Then it faded from view, but has mounted a comeback in recent years under the new concern of microplastics.

Here’s the problem – what it really is, is litter. Plastics will degrade, particularly when properly buried. There are only a few ways it can get into the ocean. 1) Landfills that leach into the ocean. (This cannot happen in the US – our landfill construction standards are too strict.) 2) Illegal dumping. (This violates international treaty.) 3) Litter that runs off-shore in storm water drainage systems. 4) Litter thrown directly into the ocean from ships. So-called “plastic pollution” of the oceans is litter – that’s all it is.

So, presuming it needs to be controlled, what’s the best thing to do? Is it really to “ban” plastic, making life miserable for pretty much everyone and completely unenforceable in so many countries? Or is it just in teaching people not to litter?

When I lived in California and they banned the thin plastic grocery bag I was livid. Why was I, someone that was careful to manage the bags properly, as are most people, forced to now pay for thick or paper bags to compensate for the few very silly people that tossed them in the storm drain? This is socialism at is basest. Forcing misery on all for the misbehavior of the few.

“Plastic pollution” is the problem of those few miscreants that mismanage it, not the vast majority of the world. If you want to get rid of it, make them bear the cost, not me.

The post Plastic Is Not The Problem appeared first on The Hugh Hewitt Show.