Eco-Friendly Gas Station & Commitment to Research

Eco-Friendly Gas Station & Commitment to Research plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The nation's top agricultural official says cutting agricultural research funding would have some very negative effects for the world. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack it’s important to build a firm foundation for the future.

VILSACK: Those that are concerned about it have reason to be concerned. The research is fairly clear that when you begin to flatline your commitment to agriculture research you begin to flatline the productivity of agriculture. My hope is that people understand in these tight budget times the one place that we ought not to reduce is in this research area in a significant way because you will in essence be crippling your capacity to grow in the future.

You don’t normally think of a gas station as being eco-friendly. In fact quite the opposite. But now a Beaverton Chevron station is trying to change that. The gas station recently installed 75 solar panels on the roof that generates enough electricity to kick back some to the electric company. In addition the station is using all LED lighting which has cut power consumption by 70% and their coolers use geothermal technology. The station owner says he's saving more than $2,000 a month on energy costs and said the savings are passed down to the customers.

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

Remember here while back the lawsuit issued by plastic bag manufacturers against a reusable bag maker. Yeah, pretty silly huh? Apparently the courts thought so too. Two out of the three disposable plastic bag manufacturers have dropped their case, while the third has settled out of court, and even managed to take it “in the shorts” so to speak. Seems when push comes to shove in the documented data department the reusable bag maker came out on top by providing more than enough accepted data on the environmental impact of single use plastic bags to defend their case. A person does wonder how the plastic bag manufacturers thought they could win this one in the first place. One only has to look around them to see proof positive that disposable plastic bags have a detrimental affect on the environment; they are littered everywhere. In fact, right now I see that I will have to get my ladder out to go collect one out of a tree in my backyard. And no, it wasn’t mine. Thankfully, more and more cities around the world are adopting plastic bag bans or initiating a plastic bag tax. It may not be popular with some consumers, but it certainly makes sense.

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