Letters: Finding solutions to the plastic problem; Take care of your pets

Finding solutions to the plastic problem

The world is producing twice as much plastic waste as two decades ago. Most of this is single-use plastic. You open a product and “throw away” the plastic, but one might ask, where does it go? Research shows that single use plastic is ultimately landfilled, incinerated or leaked into the environment. Wherever you go, there is plastic, and no one is taking responsibility for it — not the producer, not the consumer, not the waste handlers.

Plastics are manufactured from fossil fuels — oil and natural gas. There is a link between global warming and plastics: fossil fuel companies, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP, etc, all have plastic processing plants and plan to build many plants to ensure a market for oil and gas.

The fossil fuel/plastics industry issues misinformation about the effectiveness of recycling plastic. Very little plastic is recycled because the process is not efficient or cost effective.

Plastics are not biodegradable. Exposure to sunlight, wind and mechanical forces causes plastic chains to break into smaller units that become air and waterborne. There are numerous studies around the world showing bits of plastic in human tissue, including lungs, blood, placentas and breast milk.

The only answer to plastic pollution is to reduce the amount of plastics entering the environment. We can all try to buy less single use plastic. It’s important to tell grocers you do not want to buy food wrapped in plastic. Tell your elected representatives to find solutions to the plastic problem.

Take care of your pets

I opened my front door at 8 a.m. Friday to take my dog for a walk and saw a small beagle in the yard; she made a beeline for the open door, shivering and hungry. Temperatures were in the 20s with 40 mph gusts. She found food and water immediately, eating like she hadn’t eaten in a week. She was clean, friendly and very sweet. I contacted PAWS, Pet Recovery of Centre County, the State College police. No luck.

In the 15 hours she was with us, I found out a number of things; someone taught her to play “fetch.” I’d throw a toy, she’d bring it back and drop it. She snuggled by my hip on the couch; she did that with someone else too, I’m certain. She was used to a leash, and walked without pulling. Someone taught her that too.

Trying to give whoever owned her the benefit when I say that she may have gotten out accidentally, or escaped through an open door. Then why didn’t you look for her? She was on Facebook, Nextdoor, Pet Recovery. All day, not a peep.

If you can’t handle a pet, don’t put one through this trauma. I left “Lucy,” as we dubbed her, at Metzger’s and cried when I left her. She is a sweet pup who didn’t deserve to be deserted twice in the same week. Dogs are in it for the long haul; if you get one, you should be as well.

Offensive letter on Russian war

I find Walter Uhler’s latest anti-Ukraine letter (Feb. 22) to be even more offensive than his earlier efforts: more pro-Russian propagandistic, and more contrary to historical fact. He questions mainstream reporting, yet quotes a Seymour Hersh report on the Nord Stream sabotage based on a single anonymous source. He calls Ukraine’s reports of Russian casualties outlandish, yet fails to mention British intelligence reports of 60,000 Russian deaths, plus wounded. He blithely accepts the Russian view of the Maidan 2013-14 revolution as a coup of the Nazi type, though both Britannica and Wikipedia report it (and as I remember it unfolding) as a true revolution to get rid of the Yanukovych government responsible for the massacre of hundreds, after that government rolled back progress in freedom of speech and protest. Mr. Uhler may be a deep scholar of Russia, but I suspect he listens too attentively to his sources in Russia (perhaps coerced by the Putin government) and ignores information contrary to what they tell him. As for his ludicrous assertion that the Russian invasion was “preemptive,” I submit that the mainstream is right to call Russia the invader and Ukraine the victim of mass murder. Putin is a butcher. He may prevail anyway, but we must continue to do everything possible to thwart him.

Breakthroughs with EV batteries

Scientists and engineers are making progress in the search for quick-charging batteries for electric vehicles. Some of the exciting news comes from Pennsylvania.

A team of mechanical engineers from Penn State, working with EC Power, a State College-based battery technology company, recently announced a breakthrough that reduces the time to charge a typical EV battery to 10 minutes.

They reported their findings in an article in the journal Nature (www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05281-0).

This is important because EV batteries currently are heavy and can take a long time to recharge. Further, large batteries require significant quantities of raw materials such as cobalt, graphite and lithium. By making EV charging as fast as a normal gas station stop, many EV customers will settle for a more modest range, knowing that even 200-300 miles will service 95 percent of their driving needs. A fast-charging battery offers the potential for smaller, lighter and less-resource intense batteries in cars and trucks.

The Penn State researchers have found a way to use an ultrathin nickel foil in a battery to, among other things, regulate temperature. Regulated temperature is a key element in allowing for quick recharging.

It’s a big step from published research to manufacturing, but it’s clear that quicker-charging batteries for electric vehicles are on the way. When they arrive, it will be an enormous step toward electrifying transportation and breaking the hold of oil on the world’s economies and geopolitical future, not to mention the benefit in reducing CO2 emissions.