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| By Jordan Wolman |
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 U.N. plastics negotiations will extend into 2025 after diplomats were unable to land a deal. | Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo | PLASTICS TALKS BURNED — Global negotiations to address the plastic pollution crisis fizzled over the weekend as diplomats abandoned hope of striking a deal ahead of their self-imposed year-end deadline — casting the U.N. process into a cloudy future made even murkier by Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House. Divisions that have been present throughout the process only deepened as the talks in Busan, South Korea, failed to resolve differences over issues including whether to reduce production, which chemicals or plastics to limit and how to finance the work that would be dictated by any agreement, Leonie Cater and Hanne Cokelaere report. Talks over what Greenpeace calls “the most important multilateral treaty” since the Paris climate accords will now extend into 2025 after the U.S. inaugurates a president who has already vowed to pull out of that 2015 agreement for a second time. It’s not yet clear how Trump’s return will affect the U.S. stance when negotiations resume. That’s partly because the current American position has been hard to pin down: The White House announced last summer that the U.S. would push for measures to reduce plastic production, a reversal from its previous stance, but the delegation has since clarified that it doesn’t want a binding production cap. Still, there are some clues as to how the GOP trifecta in Washington might affect the talks. Congressional Republicans are starting to unite around opposition to an agreement that includes production limits. Trump might even revel in the clearer battle lines that emerged between a Saudi Arabia-led push from oil-rich nations to reject proposals that threaten plastic production and some 85 nations including the U.K., Canada, Germany and France that signed on to a statement demanding production limits and bans on the most harmful plastics and chemicals. That doesn’t mean the whole process is tanked or even that the U.S. would for certain withdraw from negotiations. A former Trump administration official granted anonymity to discuss the situation recalled that the president-elect during his first term signed into law several measures intended to combat ocean plastic pollution. Lawmakers from both parties expressed frustration over the collapse of the talks, albeit for different reasons. Ben Dietderich, a spokesperson for Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), said that the stalemate is primarily because the Biden administration “succumbed to the pressure of far-left environmental activists” and that he looks forward to negotiations under Trump “that will tackle the issue of plastic waste and will result in a treaty that the Senate can support.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), meanwhile, criticized the U.S. delegation for an “embarrassing” lack of ambition. Many countries are still hopeful a deal is in reach — but they’ll be confronting a different U.S. when they next meet to clinch it. “While we were disappointed we were unable to reach an agreement, our team leaves this negotiation proud of the ambitious, full-lifecycle approach we brought to Busan — and is resolved to make more progress in the next stages of this negotiation,” the State Department said in a statement released Tuesday.
| | | | A message from American Beverage: At America’s beverage companies, our bottles are Made to Be Remade. In fact, we’re making bottles from 100% recycled plastic, excluding caps and labels, which can reduce our use of new plastic. Learn more at MadeToBeRemade.org | | | | | GUNNING FOR THE TOP DOGS — A rural, deep-red Kansas county is leading a lawsuit accusing the top plastics industry players of lying about the recyclability of their products and “imposing significant costs on communities that are left to pay for the consequences” of the resulting pollution crisis. Ford County, which has about 34,000 residents and gave two-thirds of its votes to Trump last month, is leading a federal class action lawsuit with more than 100 counties across the Sunflower State against Exxon, Chevron, Dow, DuPont, Eastman, LyondellBasell and the American Chemistry Council. The plaintiffs argue that plastic recycling has “failed to become a reality” and that the industry knew decades ago that it wouldn’t — thereby misrepresenting its products and pricing as well as increasing the cost of waste management. Sound familiar? California Attorney General Rob Bonta made similar allegations in September when he sued Exxon, which is continuing to expand its advanced recycling operations. Ford County’s lawsuit is the first of its kind to include other major petrochemical entities. Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, said in a statement that the complaint is “littered with claims that are inaccurate, misleading and out of date” and that “it would be far more helpful to its citizens and the environment if Ford County invested more in its own recycling infrastructure instead of bringing a misguided lawsuit.”
An Exxon spokesperson said the company is “transparent and meticulous in our product claims” and cited its advanced recycling operations as part of its effort to keep plastics out of landfills.
| | | | A message from American Beverage:   | | | | | AI WOES — We here at the Long Game are relieved to learn that we’re not alone in being skeptical about the prospects for energy production keeping up with the rising power demand accompanying the boom in artificial intelligence research and data centers. Nearly 60 percent of global tech companies, data center developers and energy providers say the pace of energy deployment in the U.S. is insufficient to meet demand, according to a new KPMG survey of 115 executives in September. “Extreme weather events and the need for more resiliency; growing demand on the grid thanks to a boon in domestic manufacturing, increasing popularity of EVs, and transitions to the cloud – before all eyes were on AI, power and utility companies were already between a rock and a hard for where to put their resources and capital first,” said Angie Gildea, KPMG U.S. energy leader. Now, AI and data centers are projected to consume 8 percent of total U.S. power demand by 2030 compared with the current 3 percent, according to Goldman Sachs. Big tech companies are scrambling to gobble up as many zero-carbon power sources as possible to keep their climate commitments while growing their AI businesses. More than half of data center developers said they’re willing to pay as much as 50 percent more than they currently do on electricity costs for low-carbon power, and most called inadequate access to those power sources the biggest challenge to finding suitable sites for data centers.
Yet 60 percent of respondents said they’re likely or somewhat likely to delay sustainability targets due to energy demand. That might be because market players are reporting an all-of-the-above energy moment, with respondents expected to significantly increase usage of solar, wind, hydropower, natural gas with carbon capture technologies and geothermal energy. And while nuclear energy seems to be in the midst of a major revival, only about a quarter of respondents indicated plans to significantly expand their nuclear usage in the next three to five years.
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BACK FROM THE GRAVE — Garret Graves may be retiring from the House in January, but he may not be leaving Washington: The Louisiana Republican is emerging as a leading contender to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Thomas Frank reports for POLITICO's E&E News. “He has a broad understanding of FEMA,” said Michael Coen, the agency’s chief of staff and an appointee of President Joe Biden. “He speaks eloquently.” Pete Gaynor, who ran FEMA from 2019 to 2021 in the first Trump administration, said Graves would be “an interesting selection” because he’s spent 10 years in Congress and has been “pretty vocal about FEMA programs.” “If you wanted to change the way FEMA delivers its disaster-recovery resources, … he would be an intriguing selection because he knows how to get stuff done in Congress,” Gaynor said Monday. “That may be a positive thing for the agency and disaster survivors.”
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| | | A message from American Beverage: Our plastic bottles are Made to Be Remade. America’s leading beverage companies - The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo - are working together to help ensure plastic bottles become new bottles and don’t end up in our oceans, rivers and beaches.
Together, we’re:
· Designing 100% recyclable plastic bottles – we’re making our bottles from PET that’s strong, lightweight and easy to recycle.
· Investing in community recycling – we’re marshalling the equivalent of nearly a half-billion dollars with The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners, to support community recycling programs where we can have the greatest impact.
· Raising awareness – we’re adding on-pack reminders to encourage consumers to recycle our plastic bottles and caps.
Learn more at MadeToBeRemade.org. | | | | | GAME ON — Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. Join us every Tuesday as we keep you in the loop on the world of sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott and reporter Jordan Wolman. Reach us at gmott@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com. Sign up for the Long Game. It's free!
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— With the U.N.’s global plastics treaty talks in limbo, the Financial Times’ deep dive into the industry behind the pollution might be worth a look. — The New York Times examines how the retreating Arctic permafrost is forcing indigenous Canadians to contemplate relocation. — At the other end of the continent, drought linked to climate change is prompting efforts to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal, Reuters reports.
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