Missouri Senate Bans Wrong Plastic From River. Scientists Roll Their Eyes.

by Erik Deckers

Leave it to Missour-uh. Their heart was in the right place, but their understanding of science was, well, not.

The Missouri state government passed a law that would make it illegal to have polypropylene on many Missouri rivers. They meant to ban expanded polystyrene.

In effect, they banned Tupperware, but not Styrofoam, which was their original intention, says an Associated Press story.

While I understand this can by a little confusing to people, since the words almost sound the same — polypropylene, polystyrene — wait, they don't almost sound the same, unless you listen to the first two syllables and then quit paying attention.

The problem was that many people were bringing Styrofoam coolers onto the river, and then leaving them there, so they wanted to ban them. Instead, they banned the things you bring your cold fried chicken and potato salad in. Things which no right-thinking mother would abandon.

As a result, you can bring your Styrofoam coolers with impunity, but so help you, if you're caught with a single piece of plastic polypropylene, whether it's plates, cups, or utensils, you can spend up to a year in jail.

I'll take Why Didn't Anyone Double-Check This for $200, Alex.

http://laughing-stalk.blogspot.com/2009/08/missouri-senate-bans-wrong-plastic-from.html