I follow engineer/scientist Vaclav Smil closely now, having embraced his admonition “first things first” for our biosolids profession when I prepared, back in May, a presentation Invention and Innovation in Biosolids, which is available on my website. That presentation title was shamelessly borrowed from Smil’s book Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure. Smil has recently updated an early text of his, available as Materials and Dematerialization: Making the Modern World, also worth reading. It ties to today’s New York Times article (‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier”) on the mining of aquifers to sustain Texas oil production. We learn that impacts of fossil fuels go way beyond carbon emissions. While we may be eager to “decarbonize” the water sector to reduce our GHG emissions, our profession is also connected to nutrient enrichment, dispersal of persistent pollutants, and soil health in ways that can be best understood in the context of exceedance of multiple “earth system boundaries,” as articulated in Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries. As our industry makes its plans for new programs and equipment, we owe it to ourselves, our communities, and our future generations, to take the broadest possible view of our relationships to Earth.
