“The fraction of New York’s garbage that requires disposal should be processed in waste-to-energy plants — which not only produce energy but are also cheaper and less polluting than landfills,” write Norman Steel and Benjamin Miller. “If all of the city’s nonrecycled waste were sent to local energy recovery facilities instead of distant landfills, the city would save diesel fuel and generate enough energy to supply 145,000 homes—thus avoiding the combustion of nearly three million barrels of oil to generate electricity.”