The most outrageous, outlandish, ridiculous, and absurd on the face of it, idea has been concocted by a tiny turd from the Netherlands. By giving a TED talk (and the preposterousness of that focal point for fancifulness knows no bounds and is not going to be discussed further here), whoring the idea on social media, and raising millions of dollars from gullible goons, an idea was hatched to put plastic into the ocean in order to remove plastic from the ocean. I’m not a scientist. I’m just an individual with an abundant supply of common sense. But a cursory glimpse of this tomfoolery would tell anyone with a sixth-grade education (and I’ll use the US here as the bar…) that the carbon footprint of this project, the endangerment of wildlife in and above the oceans — the potential for harm — greatly, greatly outweighed any potential benefit. And there was absolutely NO chance of benefit, on its face!
Imagine if these monies had been spent to tackle cleanup at the source. Create barriers to entry. Educational programs to further vilify the use of plastic. Promote green energy. Develop methods to recycle or make less harmful this ubiquitous pollutant. No, that wouldn’t do. Instead, this ridiculous chicanery is what we got. God help us!
“WOE betide him, and her too, when it comes to things of consequence” — thank you, Jane Austen.
WOE betide us!
If only there were a suitable punishment for this crime against the environment, against humanity, against all life forms. Against stupidity. Against the gullible. If only there was a suitable punishment for the unstoppable tide of media whores climbing out from underneath every rock. Like the scourge of plastic, they permeate every surface of the planet.
ADDENDUM: A more serious endeavour to end plastic pollution can be found in this story in The Guardian.