I was shocked to read the column, Earthtalk, in the Greenfield Recorder on Jan. 9. In a full column, from the top to the bottom of the page, Earthtalk was supposed to answer the question “Why isn’t the government limiting plastics?”

At no place in the response could I find the explanation that plastics come from oil and the petroleum industry is depending on the manufacture and usage of plastics to sustain their companies in the future. This is the major reason why governments are not limiting plastics and will continue to fail to limit plastics until this reality is confronted and acted upon. Instead the column focused on the fact that plastics are pervasive in our environment. Yes, we know that. But why governments are not doing anything about it has to do with the power of the petroleum industry to control the action (or lack of action) of governments.

Rita Jaros

Shelburne Falls

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