Gizmondo headline: Mike Bloomberg Wages War Against Plastic
The billionaire announced a $85 million campaign to shore up grassroots opposition to the petrochemical industry in the U.S.
ByMolly Taft
Today 1:54PM
https://gizmodo.com/mike-bloomberg-beyond-petrochemicals-pla…
The petrochemical industry, which primarily relies on oil and gas as its feedstock to make plastics and other products, has become a new frontier for fossil fuel companies looking to find new markets for their products. The world’s explosion of plastic use is expected to drive half of all demand for fossil fuels by 2050. The petrochemical industry has been particularly aggressive in expanding its presence in communities of color and lower-income communities, who find themselves on the front lines of the pollution and waste that come with these facilities.
“It’s good news for the Gulf,” Anne Rolfes, the executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an organization that works to protect fenceline communities from the oil, gas, and chemical industries, told Earther in an email. “While we have managed to stop projects and defend ourselves, the Bloomberg money will add crucial support to strengthen and grow our work. We need it now more than ever, as our Governor, Congressional delegation and local elected officials do all they can to prop up the fossil fuel industry. It’s past time to transition, and Bloomberg support to the Gulf will help us achieve that goal.”
The largely grassroots campaign against the petrochemical industry in these regions has seen some welcome successes in recent weeks. Just last week, a Louisiana judge vacated air permits for a massive proposed plastics plant owned by petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics, further stalling construction of the enormous project—which would be one of the largest plastics plants in the world and would release tons of toxic air pollutants each year on the primarily Black community nearby. And earlier this month, the deadline passed for a proposed methanol facility in Louisiana, which would have been the largest in the country, to submit additional development plans for review to state environmental agencies; the proposed plant was the target of lawsuits and activism from various grassroots organizations, including the Bucket Brigade.