Fashion Statement & Environmental Forum

Fashion Statement & Environmental Forum plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Representatives Frank Lucas, Sam Graves, and Washington's Doc Hastings, co-chairs of the Rural America Solutions Group, hosted a forum yesterday to discuss Environmental Protection Agency regulations and initiatives that are hindering job creation and economic expansion in America's rural communities. Hastings faulted the Democratic leadership of the House for having little or no oversight of these activities - and cautioned that things could get worse. HASTINGS: Proposed bills that would increase rural energy costs and regulate irrigation ditches would make the situation even worse. And the real danger is that these bills could be resurrected after the election in a lame duck session. Oregon is one of only 10 states that do not require hunters to wear orange. Oregon has never considered the issue and three bills in the Legislature have died, the last one in 2001. A seven-member commission meets in Bend today and will choose whether to require orange in 2011 for all 190,000 hunters or only for the 17,000 minors who hunt, or to make no change. The commission has received numerous letters and emails on the issue, many from hunters or families of hunters injured or killed in hunting accidents. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. One would think that in the last decade we would have advanced past the scaremongering and romantic ideologies aimed at stopping the advancement and use of biotechnology when it comes to feeding the world's starving populations. One would be wrong. Hearings are still being held to determine whether or not genetically modified plants should be allowed into the world's food supply. While this debate rages on the number of people starving to death on a daily basis continues to rise. Why sabotage genetic scientists who could provide the means to feed millions of people? Why indeed when conventional and genetically improved foods are so very similar. Scientists have simply been able to produce improved and perfected traits in crops more quickly than the traditional means which requires years of cross breeding. There is room in the world's ag industry for organic, conventional, and biotechnological food production. When there are so many countries around the world in need of food can we really in good conscience continue to deny them the ability to feed their people and be self sustaining by raising drought and pest resistant crops? Is the ideology of some more important than the life of even one starving child? Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.