Don't know whether to laugh or cry, Chris. You are so funny I find myself grinning through tears. Yeah, tears of rage. The Douglas quote is perfect. Plus ca change.
I continually wonder if time will tackle the ethanol issue. Isn't it a matter of time before electric vehicles take over the market? I don't see public outcry ever happening. People care about water quality, but not enough to do anything. Your upbeat honesty SO refreshing.
I don't have a direct line, backslider and frequent sinner that I am, but I'm convinced Chris is doing the Lord's work in calling us all on water quality. One of the problems is immersion; we are in a sea of corn and just don't "see" it until someone like Chris calls it out. I am living on 60 acres, part of the farm that I and my family have owned for generations. Mine is in CRP (thanks for paying your taxes!) but it used to be row cropped, cattle pasture and we raised hundreds of hogs when I was a kid. I remember 60ish years ago when kids would come over for overnights from town and ask "WHAT is that smell?" as the scent of hogs broached their delicate olfactory senses. We would respond" What smell?" . We were so immersed in it daily that we couldn't smell the hog manure 100 yards from the house. Same with the corn all around my home now, I didn't "see" it until I began reading Chris' stuff a few years back. And it never dawned on me what my family, friends and neighbors are doing to the Cedar River an eighth of a mile from my house. Thanks for helping to open up my eyes!
You are courageous and outspoken and should not have been pushed out of U of I. I do take issue with your dismissal of politicians. Your characterizations are understandable given your treatment.Historical context paints a fuller picture. In the 80's and early 90's, Iowa was a national leader when its D controlled legislature, working with R legislators and a R Gov, passed the Groundwater Protection Act, Energy Efficiency Law, REAP and other progressive natural resources, environment and energy laws. Legislators were targeted for defeat in future elections. Remember, these laws had the philosophy if you contribute to the problem, you contribute (pay) for the solution. The sustainable ag portion and creation of the Leopold Centerplace, Center for Health Effects of Human Contamination, Waste Reduction Center) were funded by fees on ag chemicals,, landfills, household chemicals and more. IFB, ag chemical dealers and manufacturers and almost all over ag groups fought the law over several years; some brought in national lobbyists. Efforts to weaken the laws were fought back--until about 2010's.
I find no end in sight for the political machinations of either D's or R's. They treat agriculture technology similar to how they treated nuclear energy (post "A" bomb) all good and clean with no down side, a horrible mis-conception they ignored. Just like the disasterious nuclear plant in Japan which continues to pour millions of gallons of radiation infused water into the Pacific Ocean with no media about what is happening to"fix" the problem, because there isn't a fix! So, if the bird flu doesn't get us, the manure may. If the cancer causing chemicals we pour on the ground doesn't take us out the organisms jolted with nitrogen from manure spills like festeria may get us first! There simply is no end to the double speak from the corporate side of politics which causes most of our major problems simply because people can easily be bought.
Midwest rural America, the people and nature, has long been the sacrifice zone for industrializing the course of agriculture, greatly amped on the technological fruits of the second world war -- machinery, pesticides and nitrogen fertilizer, applied to earth with war-like efficiencies and propaganda to boot. And with this came a competition of freedoms in the "free" market, with the free hand given to the producers, and the back of the hand to those suffering the cost of market failures. So goes the reign of free market capital in our democracy with both parties aligned solidly on the side of plenty with little accounting of the costs to those in the sacrifice zone. With those at the top determining what are acceptable losses to those at the bottom. So we get it: be strong and suck it up, like good patriots on the war front, excusing toxic leakages and tipping our hat to best management practices. It sucks to have to get the point of non-point.
Forwarding to Zach Wahls! I've been begging him and other so-called progressive Dems to grow a ...spine... and take a stand on these issues. I was gone from Iowa when the Dems had the trifecta and was so disappointed to hear they were bought and paid for as well (though they go for cheap compared to the R's). The industry certainly made sure to pay off or beat all opposition. I now live on 75 acres on the Cedar River, transitioned from corn and beans plowed on D slopes for 70 years to prairie and orchards growing real food without chemicals. We have campsites along the river, but I warn guests that they swim at their own risk. I'm sure out-of-staters don't realize I'm talking about the pollution not the depth! Keep doing what you do, Chris. I haven't had such hope since Bill Stowe's lawsuit.
What nobody wants to hear - which is why it needs to be said! Repeatedly . . .
Don't know whether to laugh or cry, Chris. You are so funny I find myself grinning through tears. Yeah, tears of rage. The Douglas quote is perfect. Plus ca change.
OMG, you are hilarious and sobering.
I continually wonder if time will tackle the ethanol issue. Isn't it a matter of time before electric vehicles take over the market? I don't see public outcry ever happening. People care about water quality, but not enough to do anything. Your upbeat honesty SO refreshing.
I don't have a direct line, backslider and frequent sinner that I am, but I'm convinced Chris is doing the Lord's work in calling us all on water quality. One of the problems is immersion; we are in a sea of corn and just don't "see" it until someone like Chris calls it out. I am living on 60 acres, part of the farm that I and my family have owned for generations. Mine is in CRP (thanks for paying your taxes!) but it used to be row cropped, cattle pasture and we raised hundreds of hogs when I was a kid. I remember 60ish years ago when kids would come over for overnights from town and ask "WHAT is that smell?" as the scent of hogs broached their delicate olfactory senses. We would respond" What smell?" . We were so immersed in it daily that we couldn't smell the hog manure 100 yards from the house. Same with the corn all around my home now, I didn't "see" it until I began reading Chris' stuff a few years back. And it never dawned on me what my family, friends and neighbors are doing to the Cedar River an eighth of a mile from my house. Thanks for helping to open up my eyes!
A truthteller like you is a beacon of light for many of us but boy does it piss people off. Keep it up
You are courageous and outspoken and should not have been pushed out of U of I. I do take issue with your dismissal of politicians. Your characterizations are understandable given your treatment.Historical context paints a fuller picture. In the 80's and early 90's, Iowa was a national leader when its D controlled legislature, working with R legislators and a R Gov, passed the Groundwater Protection Act, Energy Efficiency Law, REAP and other progressive natural resources, environment and energy laws. Legislators were targeted for defeat in future elections. Remember, these laws had the philosophy if you contribute to the problem, you contribute (pay) for the solution. The sustainable ag portion and creation of the Leopold Centerplace, Center for Health Effects of Human Contamination, Waste Reduction Center) were funded by fees on ag chemicals,, landfills, household chemicals and more. IFB, ag chemical dealers and manufacturers and almost all over ag groups fought the law over several years; some brought in national lobbyists. Efforts to weaken the laws were fought back--until about 2010's.
I find no end in sight for the political machinations of either D's or R's. They treat agriculture technology similar to how they treated nuclear energy (post "A" bomb) all good and clean with no down side, a horrible mis-conception they ignored. Just like the disasterious nuclear plant in Japan which continues to pour millions of gallons of radiation infused water into the Pacific Ocean with no media about what is happening to"fix" the problem, because there isn't a fix! So, if the bird flu doesn't get us, the manure may. If the cancer causing chemicals we pour on the ground doesn't take us out the organisms jolted with nitrogen from manure spills like festeria may get us first! There simply is no end to the double speak from the corporate side of politics which causes most of our major problems simply because people can easily be bought.
Speaking of Vilsack, I'm sure you saw this Chris:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-ethanol-industry-needs-carbon-capture-feed-aviation-fuel-market-agriculture-2023-11-30/
His comment about "not wanting to bother the White House" was particularly telling.
Chris, welcome to the Iowa Writers' Collaborative!
Midwest rural America, the people and nature, has long been the sacrifice zone for industrializing the course of agriculture, greatly amped on the technological fruits of the second world war -- machinery, pesticides and nitrogen fertilizer, applied to earth with war-like efficiencies and propaganda to boot. And with this came a competition of freedoms in the "free" market, with the free hand given to the producers, and the back of the hand to those suffering the cost of market failures. So goes the reign of free market capital in our democracy with both parties aligned solidly on the side of plenty with little accounting of the costs to those in the sacrifice zone. With those at the top determining what are acceptable losses to those at the bottom. So we get it: be strong and suck it up, like good patriots on the war front, excusing toxic leakages and tipping our hat to best management practices. It sucks to have to get the point of non-point.
Forwarding to Zach Wahls! I've been begging him and other so-called progressive Dems to grow a ...spine... and take a stand on these issues. I was gone from Iowa when the Dems had the trifecta and was so disappointed to hear they were bought and paid for as well (though they go for cheap compared to the R's). The industry certainly made sure to pay off or beat all opposition. I now live on 75 acres on the Cedar River, transitioned from corn and beans plowed on D slopes for 70 years to prairie and orchards growing real food without chemicals. We have campsites along the river, but I warn guests that they swim at their own risk. I'm sure out-of-staters don't realize I'm talking about the pollution not the depth! Keep doing what you do, Chris. I haven't had such hope since Bill Stowe's lawsuit.
Chris, I'm afraid Fredrick Douglas was right (how did he know?) saying we quietly submit. That clean water been to long gone and most just except it.
-where can we focus all of our small amounts of limited energy(time) to move the rock up hill?
-if your gonna keep leading, I'll sure try to do my part.
-keep it stirred up, keep that fire burning too!
Xi Jinping’s ‘Old Friends’ from Iowa Get a Dinner Invitation https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-11/xi-jinping-s-old-friends-from-iowa-invited-to-dinner-with-him
Worth a follow up? sent it to Lyz also
https://www.startribune.com/epa-to-minnesota-take-action-to-protect-people-from-polluted-wells-in-eight-counties-mpca/600318286/
New FB poster named New Semi on Nicola Bulley Uncensored Murder Investigation dropping tons of insider information. Check it out!