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As the linked article admits, it only sequesters carbon if it is plant-based, although I would wager that the production of single use plant-based plastics stil

As the linked article admits, it only sequesters carbon if it is plant-based, although I would wager that the production of single use plant-based plastics still results in net positive carbon emissions. Nearly all plastic is not plant-based. Even then, plastic waste is not collected and stored in a responsible manner. It is dumped in whichever way is cheapest and easiest, usually finding its way into nature. The environmental impact of a thing is more than just its carbon footprint.

qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
>As the linked article admits, it only sequesters carbon if it is plant-based At the very top: "It’s usually made from petroleum, which is better in a landfill than in a tank of gasoline" "It" being plastic. The common non-plant-based kind. And later: "If we're going to extract carbon from the ground at all, far better that it ends up in a soda bottle that will last 400 years than in the combustion chamber of your car." It's good if there is more demand for non-plant-based plastic, because then we burn less fossil fuel. >It is dumped in whichever way is cheapest and easiest The most common way plastic is disposed of is in a landfill. The carbon is being sequestered underground, in other words.
- Pfhreak 5y ago
  "It's better dumped in a landfill" is miles away from "sequesters carbon". Pumping oil into a landfill wouldn't be sequestering carbon, so I'm not sure why pumping oil, processing it into plastics, shipping it all over, and then dumping it in a landfill would be.
  - qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
    Global warming is an emergency. Ultimately what matters is minimizing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. You could do that by pumping oil into a landfill in a way that it can't be burned (note that it could be burned in its original state, that's why it was extracted for fuel!), or you could do it by taking CO2 out. CO2 is CO2. You should do whichever will reduce atmospheric CO2 most effectively.
    - flukus 5y ago
      > Ultimately what matters is minimizing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. If that were the only thing that matters then the deepwater horizon oil spill would have been great, but there's much more to protecting the environment than CO2. > You could do that by pumping oil into a landfill in a way that it can't be burned It was, it's been their for hundreds of millions of years.

qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago

>As the linked article admits, it only sequesters carbon if it is plant-based At the very top: "It’s usually made from petroleum, which is better in a landfill than in a tank of gasoline" "It" being plastic. The common non-plant-based kind. And later: "If we're going to extract carbon from the ground at all, far better that it ends up in a soda bottle that will last 400 years than in the combustion chamber of your car." It's good if there is more demand for non-plant-based plastic, because then we burn less fossil fuel. >It is dumped in whichever way is cheapest and easiest The most common way plastic is disposed of is in a landfill. The carbon is being sequestered underground, in other words.

Pfhreak 5y ago
"It's better dumped in a landfill" is miles away from "sequesters carbon". Pumping oil into a landfill wouldn't be sequestering carbon, so I'm not sure why pumping oil, processing it into plastics, shipping it all over, and then dumping it in a landfill would be.
- qPM9l3XJrF 5y ago
  Global warming is an emergency. Ultimately what matters is minimizing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. You could do that by pumping oil into a landfill in a way that it can't be burned (note that it could be burned in its original state, that's why it was extracted for fuel!), or you could do it by taking CO2 out. CO2 is CO2. You should do whichever will reduce atmospheric CO2 most effectively.
  - flukus 5y ago
    > Ultimately what matters is minimizing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. If that were the only thing that matters then the deepwater horizon oil spill would have been great, but there's much more to protecting the environment than CO2. > You could do that by pumping oil into a landfill in a way that it can't be burned It was, it's been their for hundreds of millions of years.