A new study finds over 70% of Illinois wetlands lost protection after the Supreme Court’s rollback of the Clean Water Act. Floodplain forests—vital for flood control, water quality, and climate resilience—are most at risk. Illinois needs to pass a state law protecting wetlands.

Big Tech to Illinois: If we can't sell everyone's private biometric data without consent, we'll just build in Indiana. www.chicagobusiness.com/technology/i...

China isn't buying our soybeans because of the trade war. China is buying Argentina's soybeans. The US is considering a bailout of Argentina because this administration can't let Javier Milei fail in his libertarian fantasy project. Truly, Trump has ushered in an Agricultural Golden Showers Age!

Me, at Farm Aid 40th Anniversary, screaming: WE FEED THE WORLD. THE WORLD NEEDS OUR BEANS. The world: meh

"Why can't we build massive data centers, cross-country transmission lines, vast arrays of solar and wind, and million of miles of high speed rail?" Uh, we can't even remove the lead pipes that are killing our brains.

"Chicago doesn’t anticipate replacing all its [lead] pipes until 2076, some 30 years after a federal deadline" One place I'll agree with the Abundance crowd—there are systemic problems in big cities with doing basic infrastructure. @keertigopal.bsky.social & @juanpab.bsky.social

Habitat

This is why I only drink vintage.

This is the Illinois state flag we deserve, @govpritzker.illinois.gov! Share if you agree!

For some reason, I imagined a more adult-looking naked woman drawn by Trump for Epstein. In retrospect that was a foolish assumption. Hand up, that's on me.

"relentless unregulated agricultural pollution still being allowed to contaminate Ohio’s streams"

Who is most at risk? The American taxpayers who will be footing the bill of the bailout. HEYOOO!

Watch out boy

Illinois puts ~400 million pounds of nitrate pollution into our water each year—much of it from fertilizer runoff. We use way too much fertilizer to grow corn we burn in gas tanks. It pollutes our rivers and wells, and feeds the Gulf dead zone. We need a “new wave of progress” on this problem.

Because absolute causation is hard to prove, U.S. regulators let chemical companies flood the air, water, land with toxins. The clothes and crib you put your baby in? Those too. The burden of proof is on the poisoned, not the poisoners. @nickkristof.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/o...

Corn cannibalism at the Iowa football game is really on the nose.

A very nice thread on why Iowa has really bad water quality.

So… the county needs to look like a cancer patient drinking CAFO water?

No orders from our biggest customer for our second biggest crop and ag labor is decimated, but sure. More chronic welfare is what's around the corner.

Why doesn't Iowa clean up its polluted water? I"ll give you one guess.

In theory, Americans subsidize crop insurance to secure the food supply. In practice, we’re propping up monopolistic insurers that ignore small farms, reward monocultures, and worsen water pollution—while pocketing billions in taxpayer profit. seandengler.substack.com/p/crop-insur...

In theory, Americans subsidize crop insurance to secure the food supply. In practice, we’re propping up monopolistic insurers that ignore small farms, reward monocultures, and worsen water pollution—while pocketing billions in taxpayer profit. seandengler.substack.com/p/crop-insur...

You grow a generic, undifferentiated product for a competitive global market* You voted for a guy that promised a trade war This isn’t baseball; you may not get a third strike *h/t @lawrencehall105.bsky.social for this concise, excellent description which I’m stealing fortune.com/2025/08/30/r...

Regarding abundance and America’s inability to build: Our very best and brightest are trained to cook up arbitrage schemes and train chatbot demons. Personally I think that’s a bigger problem than “the groups” and their red tape.

Abundance, tired: Why hasn’t California built a single mile of high speed rail after 10 years? Abundance, wired: Why hasn’t my park district put up a single play structure after 6 months of fencing off the neighborhood park?

This is the kind of innovation that makes America great.

I also think it’s important to point out that there’s a reason the Silicon Valley transhumanist demons are excited about Abundance.

GazaCoin: ethnic cleansing as NFT drop Under Trump’s Gaza plan, land “freed” by Gazans’ “voluntary removal” would be managed by U.S. trustees and owned via digital tokens, paving the way for “AI-powered smart cities.” This is hell.

I cook everyday, have used every type of cooktop, and I’ll never go back from induction. This is based purely on the best cooking experience. Lower carbon monoxide and greenhouse gas emissions are a nice bonus. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

That looks like a body double. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few body doubles in my time.

Someday, if our farmers work hard enough, America can become Galicia.

I never knew I wanted a 1980(?) Toyota Celica

The US Environmental Protection (lol) Agency is about to dramatically reduce wetlands protections. This is a disaster for Illinois wetlands—which have few state protections. We’ve introduced a bill to protect Illinois wetlands, but so far @govpritzker.illinois.gov has not prioritized this.

We got big project out today about Chicago’s lead pipes. The news is we mapped them all. The big idea is that Chicago residents are living through a public health crisis, and we wanted to help them visualize their place in it. @grist.org @wbez.org @insideclimatenews.org @chicago.suntimes.com

Absolutely incredible resource for Chicago—a map of lead service lines across the city. Does your water have lead in it? For many in Chicago, the answer could be “yes.”

“It doesn't matter how much powdered sugar you sprinkle on a pile of pig shit, you'll never turn it into a jelly donut.” via @ninaelkadi.com

Given that there are people in Illinois state govt who are iffy on the carp project to begin with, and it's the other Great Lakes states who want it as much or more than Illinois, I'm not convinced this threat from Trump is very effective.

"Every generation accepts the world they inherit as 'normal.'" Here's the clearest picture I've taken of what we now consider "normal" in Illinois.

Earlier this year, Steven Cook was defending chemical companies trying to block cleanup of cancer-linked “forever chemicals.” Now he’s at the EPA—proposing to kill the same rule his former clients were fighting. MAHA: the biggest marks in the world. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/c...

“North Carolina farmer Craig Watts calls himself a ‘recovering factory farmer.’” “In 2014, Watts invited an animal welfare group to film the conditions within his concentrated animal feeding operations. Thus began his life as a whistleblower.” cornbeltconfidential.substack.com/p/fields-of-...

The single best place to be on planet earth today is Decatur, Illinois at America’s largest outdoor farm show. As soon as I got here they hustled me to the VIP lounge.

This display says “agriculture needs bees,” so I would like to ask, “Is it a problem that we coat almost 100% of the corn planted in Illinois with neonicotinoid pesticides?”

And Midwest Democrats—some of whom are lauded as climate champions—cheered.

The Farm Progress Show is a content Wonderland, true. But I also feel like the muse was singing through me yesterday. Some of my best work👇

Microplastic from drain tile?

I didn’t see Pritzker, but he announced a $2 billion investment for new ammonia fertilizer plant in Tuscola IL. IL is the largest consumer of ammonia in US. The facility will use carbon capture & storage. The Gulf of Mexico dead zone could not be reached for comment. www.wandtv.com/news/pritzke...

The single best place to be on planet earth today is Decatur, Illinois at America’s largest outdoor farm show. As soon as I got here they hustled me to the VIP lounge.

If the Southwest isn’t careful it’s going to turn into central Illinois.

Infinite growth is possible Infinite growth is possible Infinite growth is possible Infinite growth is possible