Why Are Americans So Stupid?

We've all heard about how most Americans can't find Iraq on a map or tell you who Condi Rice is. Here's more bad news....72% of Americans don't know that plastics are made from petroleum. No wonder we're the reason human-caused planetary extinction is around the corner. Check out the results of this national survey on plastic-headed Americans.

Snapshot of Survey Results:

72% of respondents do not know that plastic is made out of oil/petroleum
On average, respondents estimated 38% of plastic is recycled (the reality is less than 6%, according to the EPA)
Nearly 40% (38.1%) of respondents said plastic will biodegrade underground, in home compost, in landfills, or in the ocean (plastic will not biodegrade in any of these environments).
After learning that plastic is made from oil and never biodegrades, half (50.1%) of respondents stated they would be likely or very likely to pay 5-10% more for a natural, biodegradable plastic. Only 24% were unlikely/very unlikely to pay this much more.
62% of respondents rate their own level of environmental knowledge as fair or poor, with only 5.6% rating it as excellent.

And these are the people who want to dictate how the rest of the world lives. Scary.

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