Anything made with plastic to increase significantly in price or disappear completely
 

Many, maybe even most, plastics are made from petroleum. If we shut down the oil industry it will likely significantly impact the availability and/or cost of anything made of or containing a significant amount of plastic.

Who this we?

Something Tonto said to the Lone Ranger.

Yes, kingosabby.

:) kemosabe

"Politics by the back door Tonto!"
"Me cut them off at pass Kemosabe!"
"Away!! :crap2:

That would be wonderful, but not likely to happen. We can :pray:.

Not gonna happen ....
Electric airplanes? ; Ocean freighters?; Long haul trains?
Get a grip mate. THINK!!

Cities, cars etc. Certainly...
Plastics are NOT AT RISK..

There are areas where we can reduce fossil fuel consumption thru use of new, cleaner, reusable energy sources - solar being a key one. You can already see car companies changing, not due to gov't pressures, but economic pressures in developing new electric cars. Eventually all cars and motorcycles will be electric and that will reduce emissions and force oil companies to change. I support the transition that Biden is pushing. Remember telegraph operators or telephone operators. Well long haul trackers will be changing in the future and so must oil companies. But that being said, there will remain important areas of our economy where oil will remain - plastics for one. Although new means of production that help reduce environmental damage will coincide with continuing oil usage.

Embrace the change. Trump pushed coal subsidies for an industry that is being forced due to economic pressures to change. If I was in PA or Texas I would embrace gov't support to transition to the future, instead of keeping status quo thru subsidies.

The U.S

If it means the end of those stupid blister packs that no one can open safely, I say Hurray!!!

Time to move on folks. We can do better.

The oil industry is not going away. Will single use items like grocery bags change? Yes - probably to a biodegradable material so the oceans don't fill up with it. However, our lives are surrounded by polymers - Your keyboard, the housing on your computer, and your car are mostly made with polymers. However, I do think that producing more of our power needs through solar, wind, and geothermal makes lots of sense. Long haul carriers like planes, trains, trucks and ships will require petroleum based fuels for a long time.

From Whitefield Plastics website
Onshore & offshore wind turbines, or wind energy, is one of the fastest-growing energy technologies in the country. It takes a short amount of time to build a wind farm and requires a small footprint. Whitefield Plastics manufactures high-performance polyurethane products for offshore wind and wind turbine energy applications.
Advances in polymer chemistry have resulted in polyurethanes that have operating ranges of 300F (150C). These high temperature/high pressure polyurethane materials and elastomers can be used in a wide range of operating environments and performance requirements.

Recently in Iowa there are wind turbines farms shut down as these 18000 lb blades are breaking off. Only one landfill in the state accepts them. They are ground up and buried. Of course you know that this stuff doesn’t decompose like forever. So much for clean energy.

And with doubling the use of electric you can expect the usage rate to at least double.

Electric jets to fly around the world? Lots of energy! Maybe we will finally live like the jetsons! His flying machine turned into his briefcase! O boy! I can’t wait...come on folks-get a grip.

Good! Plastics are ruining the environment. Floating piles of plastics larger than some of our larger states floating in the oceans and killing off sea life. If prices went up it might force a more thoughtful and sensible use of plastics. Every little bit we can each do helps -- switch to a re-fillable water container and use instead of bottled water. Put your produce directly in your shopping basket and skip the little plastic bags. We don't need plastic in every aspect of our lives.

Good!

If something makes sense and there is a market for it and it is affordable the need will be filled and those filling the need will make money. IF it has to be mandated by the government then it probably is a bad idea or just not feasible. e.g. compact florescent bulbs. They were mandated and came with a hazmat sheet for disposal. LCD's on the other hand are widely accepted by the public as they make sense, don't require warm up period and are not a environmental hazard. Another example was Low E glass coatings. Not mandated but they make sense and are afforable. Good ideas don't require mandates!

Fine post Kannon! rare for TOTV
Mikale

Well all I can say is that my $28,000.worth of solar cells do not produce enough electricity to run my 3br home, and that is without having to plug in an electric vehicle. If I can't make enough solar energy in the Sunshine State what are the folks in Michigan going to do in the dead of winter? As a pilot I can assure you that electric aircraft will not work, the energy density of jet-a can never be matched by batteries.

Necessity be the mother of invention. If you lived in the early 1900s I fear you would be worried about the demise of buggy whip companies. Would you be concerned about the Whaling Oil Industry and transition to Kerosene? Those dusty coal bins and transition to petroleum. Now we are transitioning to Natural Gas, Propane, Methane for electricity supplemented by Wind and Solar. Currently technology is being driven to plant based materials for substitution of petroleum products for plastics.

Could you please cite a legitimate reference or even a picture that supports the statement that there are "Floating piles of plastics larger than some of our larger states floating in the oceans" (Nothing from a lunatic fringe environmental publication please)

I am very knowledgeable about wind energy . My relative is an “expert” on wind energy . He has testified in court as an expert many times and has had many papers published . He is an engineer with expertise on wind energy. A very very small percentage of energy is produced with wind turbines! They are not efficient ! Also the blades are not biodegradable ! There is no way to dispose of them so they are being stockpiled when they need replacement. Very large problem.

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Wonder who invented blister packs. He or she should be arrested and forced to spend 20 years opening the darn things

Could they be buried in the old coal mines?

I wonder how many birds are killed by turbines?

Works for me!!! Plastic is SO TACKY :bigbow:

Strange Block Island Ri switched from burning 1million gallons of fuel oil to wind power only. It uses only 30% to sustain islands power from wind the other 70% is sent back to mainland.

Battery technology is not there yet. Would you want to fly in a plane that is running on batteries?
They are building a coal plant in Abu Dhabi to diversify their energy reliance sources.
The wind turbines are being taken down as we speak and their materials are a pollution nightmare besides killing birds.
Solar is not enough and not reliable.
So, mixing technologies is probably the best way to go until a technological breakthrough happens.
Buy and use less plastics wherever you can.
Common sense.

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I bought a pair of scissors that came in a blister pack. Still there. grrr.:cus::cus::cus:
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:agree: How is one supposed to sneak a piece of cake late at night from one of those containers? Even the neighbors know you are having a snack.😂

Fuel oil ( kerosene ) is least efficient and most costly. No wonder theY switch to something else.

During this Pandemic, people are driving less. The price of a gallon of oil is down to $40 (I believe). That is because demand is low and supply is high. Thus low prices. So, plastic manufacturers have plenty of raw material to work with. In the future, the world will move increasingly toward clean energy and renewable resources. Science is most likely working on ways to produce plastics from - who knows wood pulp, seaweed, or whatever.

The world functioned in 1030 and 1940 without plastic anyway. I worry more about clean air than fewer plastics. Those are my priorities.

Not too hard to keep a population of 1051 running off wind power.
population Block Island Ri - Google Search

Never going get rid of fossil fuels till it all used up, that won’t be for another 200 years more or less. What we can do supplement the usage till new technology catches up. Right now wind and solar can’t be reliable in all areas. yes, it work good where wind blows and sun shines constantly. Fossils fuels can be reduced, but be long time before it’s replaced, to say so By 2035 is ——- stunt.

And we’re the wind blows constantly.

Hemp can be made stronger than steel.

No one said they were shutting down the oil industry. It will takes years to slowly move away from oil, which will be replaced with another energy saving industry which will create new jobs and a cleaner environment. Fear mongering.

If we shut down the oil industry or raise the price of oil, the price of EVERYTHING that we buy will increase. Oil is used to either manufacture or transport EVERY PRODUCT that we buy. The price of oil is factored into those prices.

Fossil fuels are inexpensive and plentiful. Converting to some other power source will cause massive inflation. In addition, it would put tens of thousands of people out of work.

In case people don't realize it, many other power sources require fossil fuels to create them. Coal and oil plants create a lot of our electricity. Some electric car charging stations are power by diesel. The damage to the environment caused by the manufacture and disposal batteries may be worse than the damage done by the fossil fuels that they are trying to replace.

Changing over from oil is a much bigger deal and much more complicated than many people realize.

What of the millions of people that are driving 10-20 year old cars and cannot afford to buy a new electric vehicle?

Increasing the price of oil or eliminating altogether will hurt the poorest among us the most.

All that and we don't even know for sure if it will change the environment enough to make any kind of significant difference.