Erin Brockovich

The fact is that Sarah Palin positively emanates strength. She gives off the aura of being a strong woman who doesn't back down, and she does it sporting heels and wearing her family like a badge of honour. I am sure there are a million other women out there who are doing the same thing.

I'd like to find and vote for a candidate, whether Republican or Democrat... that has the best interest in the health and welfare of everybody in this country.

I could see jealousy coming up, I could see anger, I could see frustration. I could see people's agendas. I could see my kids going wild - because we never had any money, and suddenly, we had money.

When I discovered that hexavalent chromium was causing cancer in the town of Hinkley, California, it led to residents being paid $333m in compensation. But, unbelievably, that chemical remains in our drinking water.

My father was in the Navy. He is very tall and has a big presence. When he was angry, he stared you right in the face and didn't look away until you told him the truth. He never yelled, but you never wanted to lose his respect, and that was scary.

Awareness is key. In the absence of information, none of us know what is happening and what could be jeopardizing our health, our water supply, and our planet.

Saying drinking water is 'safe' without any supporting documentation is wrong. Resting on the comfort that the DHEC and the USEPA are there to give you cover is the same mistake the City of Flint made.

The issues that we're having with water are worse and the magnitude is bigger than anything I imagined possible.

For me, being green means cleaning up the water. Water is the key. Start with water. You can't ignore the fact that that nearly 80% of US waterways are potentially poisoned - benzene, solvents, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals.

It's been a wild journey for me. I'm trying to take what I've learned and help teach, inspire, and lead the way for the next women. And that does begin with the cliche of loving yourself.

I was born and raised in Kansas. The worst things are the locusts, mosquitos, the flatness, the humidity. The greatest things are the simplicity of life, watching the thunderheads building on the horizon, and running through cornfields.

In a broader sense, the irony in all of this is the single most necessary element for life to exist, in fact, is killing everything, from our ecosystems to potentially our food supply if we're poisoning fish and the foods that we eat. That is the broader sense.