Even Safe Cigarettes Aren't & Creating Jobs

Even Safe Cigarettes Aren’t & Creating Jobs plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Testifying before the House Budget Committee Friday - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said the Department of the Interior is working to swiftly and responsibly make investments and create jobs using the money entrusted to Interior under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He says it’s working. According to Salazar - Interior will commit more than a billion dollars of recovery act funds by the end of October. 

SALAZAR: Since we released our final list of recovery act projects in late April, Interior has obligated $305 million dollars in recovery act funding which we estimate has already created more than three thousand jobs. 400 projects are already underway. By the end of October we will have obligated nearly $1.1 billion dollars and in the next 6 months we expect to obligate another $1 billion dollars.

The FDA yesterday announced that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze. Electronic cigarettes, also called “e-cigarettes,” are battery-operated devices that generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. The electronic cigarette turns nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. These products are marketed and sold to young people and are readily available online and in shopping malls and contain no health warnings.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray. 

I have to admit it; I’m just not as into doing the diligent yard work thing like I used to be. I guess it’s a relaxed attitude that comes with advancing years. Take my neighbor for instance, he’s a good ten years younger than I am and he’s out there mowing his yard at least twice a week if not three! I, meanwhile, just watch him and shake my head while judging my yard to be no where near needing manicuring yet. Don’t get me wrong, my yard is not one of those that small dogs and children can get lost in, but I do let it get more than two inches long before I haul out that noisy grass chomping beast of a mower hiding in my shed. Besides, not mowing my lawn so often is actually beneficial for the environment. I not only reduce noise pollution and carbon emissions, but my longer lawn acts as an oxygen producer. My neighbors can breathe another day thanks to me. And I insist that green is green, whether it be grass or clover! Bottom line, I’m a member of a small but ever growing group known as “sustainable lawn care environmentalists” who have more time for such important things as reading the classics and creating the perfect sun tea! 

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.