Two excellent bits of reader email on the removal of phosphates from dishwasher detergents. The first is from a reader who has been pumping up his new detergent by adding his own phosphate. He notes that the customer review section of one trisodium phosphate product on Amazon features people thumbing their noses at The Man.

The other note is from a friend who’s an industrial chemist and did his post-doc work on detergents. He points out that the problem with much modern environmentalism is that it’s just rent-seeking among different environmental goals: