It’s true that sometimes local people can solve problems more efficiently and quickly than a far off government can. It’s easy to be resentful of rules that don’t seem to make sense, especially when your insular existence has never exposed you to the greater world.

So, recycling might seem ridiculous if you have never seen plastic waste in the middle of the ocean. Worrying about a little coal smoke exhaust is laughable when your skies are clear and blue.

That’s part of the problem.