RE: outreach - "them vs us"

[Robert Buntrock <buntrock2@earthlink.net>]

It's an old cliche, but still true: "We have met the enemy and they is us."  (Pogo/Walt Kelly).  We're all polluters; we're all consumers; we all have a stake in this process.  Granted, some us pollute more than others (even some "dirty industrials" are cleaner than others).  Some of us have more pollitical power than others.  However, I would hope that a forum like this could help us identify both our similarities and differences.

Just a few examples.  Contrary to "popular" belief, polystyrene foam is recylable.  When I still lived in suburban Chicago, polystyrene cups, etc. were picked up curbside, along with a host of other materials, and recyled.  After moving to Minnesota, typically a more environmentally conscious state, our trash hauler picks up and recycles only plastic BOTTLES, no other plastics, no polystyrene.  Go figure.

About a decade ago, as a result of "public" pressure to switch away from polystyrene clamshell food containers, McDonalds switched to a paper/plastic laminate wrap.  Per the above, polystyrene is recyclable.  The new wraps are not.  Go figure.

Oxygenated motor fuels are less polluting, right?  Not necessarily.  The processes to prepare the oxygenates are also pollution sources.  In addition, since oxygenates have a lower energy content than the hydrocarbon fuels they displace, the only way the method makes any sense on a total energy analysis for the entire process is for the ethanol plants be fueled exclusively by agricutural waste and trash.  They aren't.  Go figure.