Current approaches to sea level rise adaptation and recovery promote gentrification and inequality This article first ran in January 2023. As we enter storm season here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s timely to post it again, lightly edited, for Mostly … Continue reading An Imperfect Storm Part Two
Recent flooding in Puget Sound shows that predictive models work This article first ran in December 2022. As we enter storm season here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s timely to post it again—lightly edited with a voiceover added—for Mostly Water’s … Continue reading An Imperfect Storm
Although animal agriculture is a major contributor to the degradation of Washington State’s Puget Sound ecosystem. While the proposed solutions address dealing with its consequences, there has been no attempt to tackle the problem at source by reducing the number of cows. Continue reading Surf or Turf?
As well as for people and community This post is one is a series about community, in which we take a look at ways in which we can be more than workers or consumers, and how we can reclaim civil society. … Continue reading Working from home is good for business
A dedicated group of people working together can make a big difference A $27 million bond measure to build a pool for our community passed in the November 7th election! 62.6% voted in favor, easily passing the 60% threshold. The … Continue reading Celebrating the power of community
My grandfather’s notebook, written in the days following the Armistice on November 11th, 1918. This is an edited repost of my first post on Substack one year ago on November 11, 2022. Veteran’s Day in the US is Remembrance Day … Continue reading Armistice Day, 1918
Don’t throw them out with the social media bathwater This post is part of a series about community. Here’s a link to the previous community posts. The groups I’ve discussed so far all meet in person, although they do use a variety of online tools for organization including email, Facebook, and GroupMe. In this post, we’ll look at groups that meet primarily online. After COVID pushed in-person groups online, using technologies such as Zoom to meet, many have chosen to stay there. With the descent of X, Facebook, and Instagram into algorithm-driven advertising and outrage sites, people are turning to … Continue reading Online Communities are a Lifeline
Cycling, part of series about community There have been many bicycles in my life, and they all have stories. “But it’s a girls’ bike!” My younger brother said, when our dad brought home our first bike. We were about six and eight years old. He had bought it from a friend at work for two shillings and sixpence and carried it the four miles home over his shoulder. We learned to ride it in loops around the back yard, and very occasionally on the street under strict supervision. That bike, with many things, was sold when we moved to a … Continue reading A Pink De Rosa
I took the summer off from PFAS. Did anything change, besides the date? For a year, I worked extensively on PFAS (per- and poly fluorinated alkyl substances, aka ‘Forever Chemicals’) in drinking water, supported by a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. At the end of the grant period in June, I decided to take the summer off from PFAS. For a change of pace, I wrote about community and travel. I’m back on the PFAS beat, and I’m curious about what’s changed. Here’s the story so far. In 2016, the EPA found PFAS in larger drinking water … Continue reading 'Forever chemicals' haven't gone away.
Part 4 of a series on land ownership and use In the first three parts123, we came to understand that the dispossession and displacement of my ancestors in Scotland and of the indigenous population of my home on Whidbey Island were connected in a giant feedback loop, and that the institution of the family farm, built on this shaky foundation, is under pressure in both places. In this post, we’ll look at a way forward. An emergency acquisition The Robertson Farm at Lea Bluffs, which we discussed in part one, was one of those family farms feeling the pinch. Falling … Continue reading “I think we’ve found it”