Robert Hirschfeld

I agree, but it's also hard to blame them when so much power has been ceded to the Executive.

Serious chicken and egg problem.

To be honest the Apple Weather app—which I check most days—has made me keenly aware of how often there are ozone issues in Illinois.

Chicago has been in marginal nonattainment for ozone in 2012 for 2008 std, moderate in 2016 for 2015 std and downgraded to serious due to failure to meet targets with the stricter std. As of 2024, Chicago is unlikely to meet ozone standards in the near term. Is anyone looking at these trends? smh

JB Pritzker: "E15... supports a cleaner environment.

@govpritzker.illinois.gov, I'm urging you to reevaluate that statement.

And if ethanol is such an economic boon, why is the tax base shrinking? Why r hospitals & schools closing? Why r main streets shuttered & only Dollar General left standing?

Illinois Democrats are calling for year-round, nationwide E15—a blend of 85% gasoline, 15% corn ethanol.

E15 hasn’t been allowed in summer because ethanol increases ozone pollution, but it’s now allowed in 7 Midwest states.

Let’s check how ozone levels in the corn states have been trending:

We have around a dozen free-standing kiosks or vending machines selling water in Iowa, but these water sources are poorly regulated and rarely monitored. Please read and share our deep dive into kiosk water quality (open access!). Unfortunately, some kiosks can release lead into the purchased water.

I’ve been telling my kids a similar story about a related topic: the value of being able to pay attention for long stretches of time is going to be sky high.

For years I said bi-opic in my head when I’d read it.

But it turns out it’s bio-pic.

I'm thrilled to be quoted in @blockclubchi.bsky.social asking why @govpritzker.illinois.gov has been so quiet about the loss of federal clean water protections and what that means for us in Illinois.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/12/i...

I'm thrilled to be quoted in @blockclubchi.bsky.social asking why @govpritzker.illinois.gov has been so quiet about the loss of federal clean water protections and what that means for us in Illinois.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/12/i...

Do Darren Bailey's row crop friends know he's calling for all corn and soybeans in Illinois to be replaced by pasture for sheep grazing?

Biofuel leaders see cargo ships as a big market, if the Trump administration won't get in the way Biofuel leaders say the shipping industry could be a golden goose for ethanol and soy-based biodiesel. One of the big barriers is the Trump administration, which torpedoed a global agreement to reduce...

This story 💯 incaplsulates the bogus-osity of the US biofuel industry: climate deniers depending on gvt mandates/subsidies & whose feedstocks cause massive amounts of pollution whining that the administration they helped elect got out of int’l anti-pollution accords b/c it’s bad for their sales.

🎯

With this new rule that excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not a danger to human health, SpaceX is now pivoting to colonize Venus.

Also, very honest that the heart of the American dream is driving a big fucking gas guzzler.

Vroom Vroom.

PFAS alert for Elburn, IL: Water testing from Dec 2, 2025 found PFOA at 7.5 ppt — nearly double the 4 ppt state standard.

Should it really take more than 2 months to get notice out?

Residents are urged to use NSF-certified water filters (reverse osmosis or activated carbon) to reduce exposure.

Champaign is ground zero for Extreme Drought in Illinois.

Almost 70% of the state is experiencing drought.

Might as well flush that money down the Mississippi River to the Gulf Dead Zone.

$67 million that could be seed money for diversification and perennialization.

But the state won't fund anything that isn't fully compatible with maintaining the monocrop corn and soy system.

Speaking of farming the government...

Here in Illinois, $67 million in climate money is funding strip/no till on 650,000 acres for three years

A *temporary* bump in reduced tillage on ~3% of the state's corn & soy acres for a practice that, whatever its other benefits, has minimal climate impact.

The “climate smart” practices that the industry successfully lobbied for are pretty bogus: cover crops, no till, nutrient mgmt…. They are impermanent, and as Emily notes often not additional. Their value is contested in the agronomic literature. Classic big ag farming the government. Bipartisan too.

Israel Gives Itself More Control Over Occupied West Bank

"Gives Itself More Control" is some high grade language laundering. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...

That's a good call. Pretty sure he's a farmer as well. And while he comes across as grumpy and mean, it's a slightly more sympathetic portrayal of protecting his garden than the outright vile Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.

Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of the few (the only?) children’s books I’ve come across that paints farmers in anything less than an angelic light.

Am I to assume this opening shot is saying something about mass delusion?

Strongly dislike the ozone increases being on the left side of that bar graph.

Midwest Democrats offer no vision for the greatest soil on Earth beyond strip mining it for corn to burn in gas tanks.

Total loser party

Illinois trees and plants suffering widespread damage from renewed use of decades-old weedkillers on farms, studies show The pesticides, prone to drifting into neighboring yards, also endanger human health: ‘This is chemical trespassing.’

Illinois' trees and natural areas are already in terrible shape from pesticide drift.

Prepare for more.

A Murder Over a Monsanto Chemical How a new herbicide pitted farmer against farmer in Arkansas

In 2018, the damage from dicamba drift was so bad that it led to murder.

Contentious Herbicide Is Greenlit in a Blow to the MAHA Agenda

MAHA dutifully kisses the Farm Bureau ring.

Bloomington increases water conservation request as drought persists City Manager Jeff Jurgens has signed a proclamation that mandates restrictions intended to reduce water use by 10% across all sectors, including residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, inst...

Bloomington calling for reduced water use as drought worsens.

Agricultural irrigation and data center water demand continue to grow.

More dust storms likely this spring.

And Illinois lacks a system to manage large water withdrawals. That's policy negligence. www.wglt.org/local-news/2...