The first of July is the 38th anniversary of my arrival in the US. This newsletter is mostly water, but not all water all the time. Here’s something different for your fourth of July weekend. It still has a sea, an ocean, a river, and a lake in it. See if you can spot them all! The first of July is the anniversary of my arrival in the US, and this year it’s the 38th. Back in 1985, I flew in over the ocean from Amsterdam into the international arrival terminal at JFK. I was here on an L-1 visa1. … Continue reading Across the Sea

A follow up to last week’s post on denial and the lizard brain I last week’s post I wrote that: …politicians, corporations, and others have weaponized our lizard brains against us. They have done this by taking advantage of our fixation on personal freedom and property rights to portray solutions to societal problems as threats to liberty so that our lizard brain reacts. and that: The skill set that helps us recognize environmental problems can also help us recognize the denial and reactance in others. We can take steps to offer solution paths with small, achievable, non-threatening first steps that … Continue reading A roller coaster and a sign

Our fixation on freedom has been weaponized against us. Most of the work I’m doing, and most of what I post about here, is at the interface of environmental and public health issues and society and culture. Although the science is clear on climate change, sea level rise, and contamination in water, we have a hard time making progress on implementing solutions. Why is it that seemingly reasonable solutions run into a buzzsaw of objections? Here are a couple of examples from projects I’m working on. In my back yard My drinking water comes from a small community water system … Continue reading Denial and the lizard brain

Last week saw new lawsuits and a settlement. The stock market shrugged. The past week saw two new lawsuits naming manufacturers of “Forever Chemicals” (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS) from the State Attorney Generals’ offices of Pennsylvania and Washington, and a settlement in the South Carolina aqueous film-forming foam multi-district litigation (AFFF MDL), where the trial was due to start today. Stock prices in the companies affected rebounded sharply Friday June 2nd. A settlement, and a punt As reported in , Dupont and two related PFAS manufacturers settled Friday ahead of the South Carolina trial due to start today, … Continue reading Lawsuit week for PFAS

Continue reading Des Moines Register Letter

Today, Mostly Water reached 50 subscribers. A short post today to thank all of you who are kind enough to read what I write here. Back in November last year, a writer friend moved her work to Substack. I came over to check it out and wound up moving my old blog posts here. Recently, I added in an occasional email newsletter for friends. Substack added a feature called Notes which allow you to post quick thoughts and respond to others’ notes. Soon I had fifty followers in seven countries and seven US states. If you’re interested in starting your … Continue reading A small milestone for Mostly Water

As the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act celebrate their 50th anniversaries, they are failing rural Americans. I started typing and Google was ready with suggestions. Why is this such a common question in America in 2023? The Safe Drinking Water Act excludes private wells On the Safe Drinking Water Act website The EPA states that “Over 92 percent of the population supplied by community water systems receives drinking water that meets all health-based standards all of the time.” SDWA does not regulate private wells which serve fewer than twenty five individuals. These wells serve thirteen percent of … Continue reading Can I buy bottled water with food stamps?

EPA calls out greenwashing in recycling claims. This newsletter is Mostly Water, but it’s not All Water All the Time. For a change of pace, here’s something that’s mostly plastics. In an action memo to the Federal Trade Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency has recommended a major review of plastics recycling practices. The EPA writes: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (“Green Guides” or “Guides”) with respect to preventing greenwashing in advertising, supporting reliable sustainability claims, and increasing the effectiveness … Continue reading ♻️It may be time to recycle the recycle logo

Continue reading He Told the Truth About Iowa’s Polluted Water and Then He Lost His Job

How industry-backed environmental disinformation campaigns keep us feeling shamed and powerless, and what we can do about it. I’ve been working on a few post ideas, but this week, a couple of news stories pushed one idea to the top of the list. It happens to touch everything I’m working on. The intent of this campaign was to shift responsibility and guilt for carbon emissions from the companies causing them onto us. The first news item was this story in Bloomberg Green: A Canadian Businessman Spent $1 Million to Offset His Carbon Footprint – Bloomberg. Let’s talk about carbon footprint. … Continue reading Disinformation