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From Shale to Plastic

October Sustainability Spotlight, Tuesday, Oct 13, 2026

(Source:  Alexandra Kanik | Ohio Valley ReSource)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81094385916?pwd=lSYHjmxgg5h4NRmsEXDASSck7r2hdA.1&mynotes=on

Plastic, especially in single-use items, is often seen mainly as a waste and litter issue.  But many of its environmental and public health impacts start earlier in the plastic lifecycle, during fossil fuel extraction, refining and polymer manufacturing.

Join us at our October Sustainability Spotlight as we explore the often-overlooked upstream impacts of plastic.  We’ll trace the journey from extracting natural gas from shale formations to processing fossil-fuel-derived chemicals into plastic feedstocks and manufacturing everyday products such as plastic straws.

We’ll also examine how the infrastructure that supports plastic production can negatively affect communities near natural gas extraction sites and petrochemical facilities.  The key takeaway is clear:  reducing plastic pollution means doing much more than managing waste after it is created. It also requires recognizing plastic’s strong ties to the fossil fuel economy and the burdens that production places on nearby communities through air, water, and soil.

Our speaker, Larisa Mednis, serves as the Clean Air Council’s Southwest Pennsylvania Advocacy Coordinator.  She leads regional efforts to reduce fossil fuel dependence and support the transition to clean energy.  Her work focuses on environmental monitoring, watchdog activities, public policy

advocacy, and community organizing around the impacts of Shell’s petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, about 40 minutes north of Pittsburgh.

Opened in 2022, this Shell facility turns ethane from natural gas into ethylene and polyethylene, key materials used to make plastic products.  As a major petrochemical facility in Western Pennsylvania, it highlights the link between expanded natural gas production, petrochemical growth, and plastics manufacturing—especially single-use products and packaging that the fossil fuel industry sees as a major growth market.

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Free Speech, Right Speech, and the Protection of Our Planet

Tuesday, May 12, 6:00 pm

It would be hard to identify an issue more pressing than the preservation of our precious planet. To complicate things, there is a gnawing sense that we are running out of time and the task is now impossible. The First Amendment gives us wide berth to advocate for the survival of life on Earth. But is anger-fueled or sensational speech skillful and effective? What do our spiritual traditions, including Buddhism, have to say about “right speech”? And how might its tenets be employed to help us protect the planet — and keep our sanity? This talk by David Bodney aims to shed some light on these issues.

Our Speaker:
David J. Bodney serves as Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP, where he practices media and constitutional law, and teaches media law as a Professor of Practice at the College of Law

at UA. A graduate of Yale College (B.A., ’76) and the University of Virginia (J.D./M.A., Foreign Affairs, ’79), he served as a legislative aide to Sen. John V. Tunney (D – CA) and began his legal practice at Brown & Bain (now Perkins Coie) in Phoenix.

He served as editor and general counsel to New Times (1990-92), spent 22 years developing an international media law practice at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and founded the Media and Entertainment Law Group at Ballard Spahr in 2014. David was drawn to Arizona in substantial part to practice Indian law, and he has represented one tribe on a wide array of issues, including natural resources and water law, for over 30 years, a relationship that began through his partnership at Steptoe with Bruce Babbitt. His professional bio can be found at www.ballardspahr.com. In 2020, David moved to Tucson, where he continues to practice and teach—a move that has allowed him to deepen his 50-year practice of Zen Buddhism through Upaya Tucson, an affiliate of the Upaya Zen Center of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Our Sustainable Transportation Future:  What Will It Look Like?

Tuesday, February 10, 6:00 pm

We are fast approaching a special election to decide on RTA Next.  People on all sides of the dual-proposition initiative have compelling points to make about our current transportation system in Tucson and Pima County. 
 
The challenge is not so much about moving people faster, it’s about reducing the distance people must travel.  Visionaries in and out of planning departments are reframing mobility around convenience, safety, and neighborhood-scale access rather than continued roadway expansion.
 
Consider:  84% of all trips in the Metro area are by car; Tucson drivers log over 8 billion miles annually.  This is travel we cannot afford to maintain, given that most city and county roads are in poor condition with a $2–3 billion repair backlog.
 
Local plans (Move Tucson, RTA 2045, Pima County) share emerging themes: prioritize safety, equity, and multimodal options; design from the sidewalk inward; and recognize that widening roads cannot solve congestion.  All seem to agree that ultimately our financial constraints and the urgency of carbon drawdown require a shift from auto-dependence to greener forms of mobility.
 
Join us for an animated discussion of how RTA Next might fit into, and/or postpone, the sustainable future of mobility in southern Arizona.
 
Our panel will include Logan Havens, board member of the Living Streets Alliance, leaders in the Complete Streets Initiative passed by Mayor & Council in February 2019 and advisors to the City’s climate action plan.