One of the great responsibilities of public office is to know when and how to use its power to change a dangerous trend. At this time of recycling disruption and municipal-waste crisis, local governments have an urgent challenge and opportunity to steer America in the right direction. Their decisions about whether to invest in recycling or regress to just burning our trash will impact environmental trends for decades to come.
Over the past 30 years, recycling went from being an aspiration to an American habit and a significant waste-management practice. When I was governor of Indiana in the early 1990s, I worked with the legislature to create and implement local recycling grants to encourage that nascent trend. There was bipartisan interest in recycling at the time, and Indiana's grant program is still robust today.
Indiana was part of a nationwide phenomenon that benefited from good public-policy decisions. But as much as Americans came to understand and appreciate recycling, most did not know that our wholesome blue-bin habit was overly dependent on the appetite of China's recycling industry. It was so affordable to ship recyclables overseas that a strong American recycling industry never developed. Our environmentally healthy habit had a dangerously unstable foundation.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
4 comments:
Blah, blah, blah. Nothing article. Former Indiana governor and US senator for two terms. Didn't stand for re-election, and 6 years later defeated running for his old seat. Senator turned Swamp lobbyist.
There is a genuine issue and problem with China recently declining to accept large amounts of our trash, aka recycling. So the reality is that while we thought what we put in the bin was going to be magically transformed in actuality it was going on a slow boat to China.
Former Sen. Bayh doesn't propose a solution for our current dilemma, but he's against incineration. We all realize by now that some discards can be actually recycled more easily or more affordably than others. Others are more problematic. There are opportunities here for actual problem solving that is efficient, conserves, benefits society and turns a profit or minimizes loss. That's what we need to hear more about.
What’s your plan?
Incinerate it to male electricity.
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