Author Archives: Norm Benson

I’m planning to send this letter to California’s State Water Resources Control Board in regard to the Bloomingcamp Ranch water system. I invite anyone interested to do the same. You are welcome to borrow what you wish in order to write to the Water Board. Comments must be received by the Water Board by noonContinue reading “Open Comment Letter to California Water Board – Draft Order Bloomingcamp Water System”

There is a whiff of bullshit and boot polish in the air. Politics, as opposed to science, does not reward the correction of mistakes, given that correcting a mistake also entails admitting to having made one. Worse, the bigger the mistake, the greater the political urgency of defending it at all costs. – novelist LionelContinue reading “Bloomingcamp Ranch vs the State of California, Part 2”

On May 21, 2020, subscribers to the State Water Resources Control Board listserver received a message from the State Water Resources Control Board: This is a message from the State Water Resources Control Board. The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will accept written comments on the draft Order Denying Petitions for ReconsiderationContinue reading “Bloomingcamp Ranch vs the State of California”

California’s Division of Drinking Water of the State Water Resources Control Board wishes to change the Detection Limits for Purposes of Reporting (DLRs) for perchlorate from .004 (4 ?g/l ) to 0.002 (2 ?g/l) . Here is their announcement: The Division of Drinking Water (DDW), at a July 5, 2017 public hearing, presented to the StateContinue reading “State Water Resources Control Board Considers New Perchlorate Detection Limit for Purposes of Reporting”

Hello, ideas. Welcome to the Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor. Science is under attack. Not breaking news, we can see for ourselves that it is. Right? You have heard, “We don’t have time. The science is settled. We must act now!” yes? If it’s settled, what is it and howContinue reading “How Science Guess Becomes Science Fact”

This article by Ted Nordhaus was originally published at Aeon and has been republished under Creative Commons.   In a recent Nature Sustainability paper, a team of scientists concluded that the Earth can sustain, at most, only 7 billion people at subsistence levels of consumption (and this June saw us at 7.6 billion). Achieving ‘high lifeContinue reading “The Earth’s carrying capacity for human life is not fixed”