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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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The world is flooded
with plastic garbage.

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In this state, none of this
is recyclable.

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NARRATOR: Have efforts to
solve the plastics problem

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made it worse?

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Do you think the industry
used recycling

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to sell more plastic?

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Absolutely.

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NARRATOR: "Frontline" and NPR
investigate

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the battle over plastics.

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We have to manage the waste
right.

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We have to fix this.

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NARRATOR: And what's at
stake.

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For the oil and gas industry,
plastic is their lifeline.

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This is the big war.

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NARRATOR:
Now, "Plastic Wars."

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♪ ♪

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(water burbling)

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LAURA SULLIVAN: In 2015, a
marine biologist came across

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a sea turtle in distress.

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Oh.

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I don't want to pull it too
hard.

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Yeah, I mean,
it's bleeding already.

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Oh, poor baby.

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I'm sorry.

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(bleep) (bleep) Christ.

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That is plastico.

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Oh, man.

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That's plastic.

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Don't tell me
it's a freaking straw.

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It's just freaking...

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SULLIVAN: Her video of the
encounter quickly went viral.

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This poor sea turtle.

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SULLIVAN: It would attract
more than 35 million views.

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...became a rallying cry for
action.

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SULLIVAN: And focused public
attention on a growing problem.

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That turtle video certainly
did have an impact.

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Plastic pollution: a
planetary crisis.

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SULLIVAN: Plastics in the
oceans have been building up

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for decades.

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In an underwater paradise,
a plastic nightmare.

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SULLIVAN: Recurring images of
dead whales...

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80 plastic bags found inside
the whale.

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SULLIVAN: Bloated seabirds...
 Oh.

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SULLIVAN: ...and littered
waterways have fueled

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a global anti-plastic movement.

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Enemy number one--
the plastic straw.

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Many U.S. cities are taking
steps to ban

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plastic grocery bags...

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Save our Earth before it's
too late!

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SULLIVAN: And yet,
despite the backlash,

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the industry that makes plastic
is expanding.

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The start of construction on

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that multibillion-dollar
plastics plant...

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SULLIVAN: Plentiful supplies
of natural gas are driving down

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the cost of making plastic.

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The U.S. is now one of the
world's largest

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plastic producers.

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It's going to be the largest
plant of its kind in the world.

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SULLIVAN: And industry is
investing tens of billions

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of dollars in new plastic
plants.

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Construction will eventually
employ 6,000 people.

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SULLIVAN: By 2050, it's
estimated that global production

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of plastic will triple.

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A plastic boom.

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There's going to be more
plastic than ever on the face...