Our investigation opens with a glimpse, partly animated, of the essential uses of plastic and the flood of single-use, disposable plastic debris entering the ocean. Narrator Peter Coyote asks, “how do we keep the benefits that plastics provide, but protect ourselves from the negative impacts…and why does this waste continue to grow despite so many efforts to reduce it?” Our search for the true headwaters of the deluge goes upstream from the ocean to where millions of tons of plastic are being produced with limited oversight—a discovery leading to the politics that brought it into being.
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Pennsylvania: Accompanying views of Royal Dutch Shell’s gigantic plastic plant being built on the Ohio River, we hear state lawmakers explain why they offered Shell the biggest subsidy in their state’s history to land the project. They believed the construction of the plant (involving thousands of workers) and the commerce it would later attract would restore local economies devastated by the loss of the steel industry and take advantage of the state’s underground deposits of natural gas—the main feedstock for making plastic. Lawmakers say their constituents favor the development because it brings jobs and wealth—words echoed by industry representatives.
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Outside the capitol we find that citizens are more evenly split over the decision to build the plant, some questioning the incentives of lawmakers who’ve enabled its arrival. A delicatessen owner says her business has been boosted by all the construction workers. The president of the local Corporation for Economic Development believes the plant’s arrival and a plentiful supply of natural gas will attract more petrochemical companies—a vision that disturbs a former fracking foreman who quit his job because of exposure to the pollution involved. A local homeowner describes being surrounded by fracking operations that drill for natural gas, which she believes gave rise to her kids’ health problems. Financial analysts point to government data showing an actual reduction of commerce in areas with heavy fracking.

Undaunted by the ongoing controversy, state lawmakers propose a second big subsidy to further boost petrochemical and natural gas development. As the bill passes, and the Shell plant is completed with thousands of construction workers laid off, we hear from a safety specialist employed at the Shell complex who sincerely believes good times are ahead. 
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Louisiana: We shift locations to St. James, a rural, predominantly Black community alongside the Mississippi River where another foreign-based chemical conglomerate, Formosa Plastics, is planning to build a $9.4 billion complex that would become the world’s largest plastic-making plant. As in Pennsylvania, the project began with the offer of a billion-dollar subsidy and the proposed project is just as polarizing.

Many residents, some direct descendants of emancipated slaves who founded their township after the Civil War, fill meeting halls to let government agencies know they oppose the project, saying they’re already surrounded by the industry in a region known as “Cancer Alley.” Proponents of the project speak to the potential for jobs and to Formosa’s intent to comply with pollution laws.

The project comes to a halt after residents realize the site would be atop an historic cemetery where enslaved plantation workers were buried, likely their own ancestors. With the attention this attracts, the construction permit is temporarily suspended pending further review. Confident the project will move forward, state lawmakers in Baton Rouge advance a new bill to allow petrochemical facilities—including the proposed Formosa plant—to “self-regulate” compliance with pollution laws rather than be overseen by government agencies. The ongoing uncertainty leaves many in St.James curious about the industry’s influence on their elected representatives.
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Washington DC: Wondering if Congress might be better able to address the problems around plastic pollution, we visit Capitol Hill where a federal bill to regulate the industry remains stalled by industry opposition. The legislation would phase out the manufacture of certain types of single-use packaging and temporarily pause the construction of new “ethane crackers” pending a thorough study of the pollution involved. The bill’s sponsors weigh in, as do industry lobbyists who say it would hurt the economy—lobbyists representing organizations that funnel millions of election campaign dollars to members of Congress and state legislators throughout the country.

A Different Story in France: Given the roadblocks facing policymakers in the United States, we visit France for a look at how one European democracy has been able to effectively regulate the manufacture and use of single-use plastic, and without hurting their economy. Our narrator Peter Coyote asks, “how did this come about?” We take a brief look at the way France prohibits industries and companies from giving campaign money to members of their Parliament. Is it a coincidence France has been able to greatly reduce plastic pollution? Our closing animation ponders the question.

‍COMMUNITY AND CLASSROOM SCREENINGS
SINGLE-USE PLANET is being distributed by Bullfrog Films for community and classroom screenings.