Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer renowned for his battle against chemical giants over PFAS, shares a cautionary tale about the impacts of 'forever chemicals.' He discusses the disturbing health concerns linked to these substances, including their effects on livestock and communities. Bilott's transformative journey from corporate lawyer to public health advocate highlights failures in corporate accountability and regulation. He warns about the parallels between the chemical industry and emerging AI technologies, urging for a precautionary approach to innovation and safety.
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Dying Cows
Rob Bilott's career changed after a call from Wilbur Tennant, whose cows were dying.
Tennant, whose farm neighbors a DuPont landfill, blamed white foam for his sick cows.
insights INSIGHT
Early PFAS Research
PFAS, invented around WWII, entered products before EPA regulations existed.
Early PFAS research by DuPont and 3M, even before the EPA, revealed toxicity.
insights INSIGHT
Regulatory Gaps
Existing chemicals like PFAS were grandfathered into regulations, requiring companies to self-report risks.
This system failed, as companies like DuPont and 3M hid harmful information for decades.
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Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont
Tom Shroder
Robert Billott
Exposure tells the story of Robert Bilott's legal fight against DuPont, uncovering decades of environmental contamination and corporate cover-ups involving toxic chemicals like PFOA. The book details Bilott's journey from representing a single farmer to leading a class action suit on behalf of thousands of residents affected by DuPont's actions.
Merchants of doubt
Naomi Oreskes
In 'Merchants of Doubt', historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway expose how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. The book highlights how the same individuals repeatedly denied the truth of studies linking smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole, all while promoting an ideology of free market fundamentalism aided by a compliant media.
Artificial intelligence is set to unleash an explosion of new technologies and discoveries into the world. This could lead to incredible advances in human flourishing, if we do it well. The problem? We’re not very good at predicting and responding to the harms of new technologies, especially when those harms are slow-moving and invisible.
Today on the show we explore this fundamental problem with Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer who has spent nearly three decades battling chemical giants over PFAS—"forever chemicals" now found in our water, soil, and blood. These chemicals helped build the modern economy, but they’ve also been shown to cause serious health problems.
Rob’s story, and the story of PFAS is a cautionary tale of why we need to align technological innovation with safety, and mitigate irreversible harms before they become permanent. We only have one chance to get it right before AI becomes irreversibly entangled in our society.
Clarification: Rob referenced EPA regulations that have recently been put in place requiring testing on new chemicals before they are approved. The EPA under the Trump admin has announced their intent to rollback this review process.
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