来源：《洛杉矶时报》
刊登日期：2021年1月3日
Single-use plastic is a climate change issue — as well as an observable, measurable menace to the environment that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic and the need for plastic protective gear. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels, and millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions are released from the extraction of these resources, and the manufacture and burning of plastic.
一次性塑料是个气候变化问题——也是对环境的一种可观察、可衡量的威胁，而这种威胁只会因新冠大流行和塑料防护装备的需求而加剧。大多数塑料是由化石燃料制成的，化石资源的开采、塑料的制造和燃烧过程排放了数百万吨的温室气体。
The end life of plastic is just as concerning. Very little of the plastic produced has been recycled, less than 10%. Even more of it has been burned. But the vast majority has been left to degrade in landfills and, increasingly, pollute the environment. We hear mostly about ocean plastic and the harm done to marine life that mistakes plastic bags and bits for food. But microplastic is even more worrisome. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade but instead breaks down into tiny particles, which have been found in every corner of the planet, on land and in the air, in drinking water and food sources.
废弃塑料同样令人担忧。生产出来的塑料很少被回收，不到10%。被烧毁的更多。但其中绝大多数被扔进了垃圾填埋场，并越来越多地污染环境。我们经常听到海洋塑料以及误把塑料袋和塑料碎片当成食物对海洋生物造成的伤害。但微塑料更令人担忧。塑料不能生物降解，而是分解成微小的颗粒，在地球的每一个角落，在陆地上，在空气中，在饮用水和食物来源中都可以找到。
Yet, frustratingly, Congress and past presidents have not given this global environmental disaster the attention it requires. Instead, they have viewed single-use plastic — which constitutes about 40% of plastic used each year — as a litter issue that local governments must solve through better recycling and waste management policies. That attitude must change, because the recent global breakdown of the market for recyclables has made it clear that recycling has never been, nor ever will be, able to keep up with plastic trash use.
然而，令人沮丧的是，国会和历届总统都没有给予这一全球环境灾难应有的关注。相反，他们认为一次性塑料——占每年塑料使用量的40%——是一个垃圾问题，要求地方政府必须通过更好的回收和废物管理政策来解决。这种态度必须改变，因为最近全球可回收物品市场的崩溃清楚地表明，回收从来没有，也永远不会跟上塑料垃圾的使用。
What can be done?
That has long been on the minds of environmentalists, who have been lobbying for federal action to reduce disposable plastic for years. To that end, more than 600 environmental, social justice and community organizations have signed on to a sweeping plan that focuses on executive action that Biden can take immediately. So far, Congress has been unwilling to consider serious action on reducing plastic production, perhaps cowed by the powerful petrochemical lobby. The only significant plastic-reduction legislation last year, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, could not even get a hearing in the Senate.
这一直是环保人士的想法，他们多年来一直在游说联邦政府采取行动减少一次性塑料。为此，600多个环境、社会正义和社区组织签署了一项广泛的计划，重点是拜登可以立即采取的行政行动。到目前为止，或许是受到石化行业游说团体的恐吓，国会一直不愿考虑采取减少塑料生产的严肃行动。去年唯一一项减少塑料的重要立法——《摆脱塑料污染法案》——甚至未能在参议院获得听证。
Meanwhile, things are about to get worse. The petroleum industry is pivoting to increased plastic production, with some 30 new plastic-making facilities in the works in the U.S., according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
与此同时，情况将变得更糟。根据生物多样性中心的数据，石油行业正以增加塑料产量为重心，目前美国约有30家新的塑料制造工厂正在建设中。
The plan outlines eight steps that include denying permits for expansion of plastic-making facilities and joining international efforts with new or strengthened multilateral agreements aimed at reducing single-use plastic.
前文提到的计划概述了八个步骤，其中包括拒绝批准扩大塑料制造设施，并加入旨在减少一次性塑料的新的或加强的多边协议的国际努力。