Environmental groups see chance for 'historic plan' under a Biden administration

Facing a closely divided Congress, a coalition of conservation groups and one U.S. Senator are urging President-elect Joe Biden and his administration to adopt what would be a new approach for Washington — targeted executive actions to get tougher on the plastics industry. 

The coalition, which includes the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation and 16 other founding partners, released an eight-point plan Dec. 8 asking the incoming Biden administration to do things like suspend permits for new plastics facilities, enact tougher emissions laws and use the federal government’s purchasing power to stop buying single-use plastics.

The environmental groups want to link that tougher approach on plastics into plans by Biden and his administration to address climate change and environmental justice.

At a news conference to release the plan, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., argued that executive actions like those could have a significant impact.

"It is tough to get any bill through Congress, and executive action can make a huge difference," said Merkley. "[This plan] is really comprehensive and could have a huge, huge impact."

The eight points include elements previously pushed by some of coalition members, like two CBD petitions to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2019 for tougher rules governing air and water emissions from plastics factories.

It also includes organizations that have fought resin plant expansion in court, like a large Formosa complex in Louisiana, and the NGO that won a $50 million federal court lawsuit against Formosa in 2019 over pellet pollution in Texas waters.

Organizers framed the effort as protecting communities near plastics plants and said the buildout of plastics resin facilities is accelerating climate change.

"Implementing this historic plan would protect vulnerable frontline communities and marine life while addressing a key driver of climate change," said Julie Teel Simmonds, a senior attorney for CBD. "It's time to rein in the fossil fuel industry's insidious plans to keep fracking for plastic and polluting poor communities here and around the world."

The plan drew sharp responses from plastics industry trade groups.

The American Chemistry Council pointed to a study that said plastics can have significantly lower energy and greenhouse gas footprints than other materials, and it outlined industry efforts to manage plastic waste, like billions of dollars in announced investments in recycling facilities since 2017.

"Misguided policies that aim to eliminate all plastics overlook the myriad of benefits provided by the material on which Americans rely," said Joshua Baca, ACC's vice president of plastics. "We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with the incoming Biden administration to address the challenge of plastic waste and collaborate on constructive, real-world solutions."

He pointed to the role of plastics in medical products, in making cars more fuel efficient and in pipes for drinking water. Baca noted industry plans to have 100 percent of plastics packaging reused, recycled or recovered by 2040.

The head of the Plastics Industry Association, Tony Radoszewski, said the plan from the environmental groups ignores the benefits of plastics.

"While we're focused on working together toward bipartisan solutions, activists are determined to destroy an American industry that employs more than one million workers in the United States," he said.

"We are right now witnessing the vital role of plastics in combating the pandemic," Radoszewski said. "People around the world depend on plastic for fresh food, water and medicine and other necessities anti-plastics crusaders take for granted."

But in a virtual news conference that lasted over an hour, speakers from several coalition members argued for specific changes in federal regulations they said would improve the environment and human health.

They noted what they called promising signs from the new administration.

Pete Myers, a scientist and founder of Environmental Health News, pushed for updated chemical health testing standards for plastics, including for toxins potentially introduced into recycled plastic manufacturing chains.

"We are not going to end the manufacture of plastic," he said. "But let's end nonessential uses of all plastics, including single-use, and replace today's hazardous plastics with a new generation of inherently safer materials."

As well, several speakers from communities around major plastics and petrochemical industrial zones in Louisiana and Texas pushed for regulatory changes they said would improve the environment there.

Sharon Lavigne, the director of Rise St. James, a group fighting a new Formosa plastics plant in St. James Parish, La,. said the petrochemical plants in her community harm the health of residents and have caused the corridor to be dubbed "Cancer Alley."

"We also need help from the federal government, which has ignored the plight of poor, Black communities and the plastic pollution crisis for way too long," she said. "I would like them to just ride around the community and see what we are going through. And if they stay here for two hours, I promise you they would leave with a stomachache or a headache."

The coalition noted that Biden has identified climate change and environmental justice as priorities for his administration, and Teel Simmonds said the president-elect has specifically mentioned St. James Parish, where CBD is fighting the Formosa plant in court.

"Those signals have been very, very promising," Teel Simmonds said. "He has made a few comments on single-use plastics and seems to support us reining in that problem, but we haven't yet seen a specific plan addressing plastics specifically."

The coalition said its plan has more than 500 signatories and 19 founding members, including Break Free From Plastic and Beyond Plastics, which was founded by a former EPA regional administrator.