Vilsack on State of the Union & Dangerous Precedent

Vilsack on State of the Union & Dangerous Precedent plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

In Tuesday evenings State of the Union Address the President talked a lot about getting the country back under control and he has tasked his cabinet members to reach out to their respective industries to help make that point. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack echoed the President’s words.

VILSACK: The President laid out his Blueprint for an America that’s built to last based on an economy that’s built to last and I think the President believes and I believe and I think many of the people of the country believe that this is a make or break moment for the middle class in this country. We want a country where hard work is rewarded. The President laid out a formula that’s fairly simple to explain. He understands the federal government will need to spend less.

Legislation introduced by Representative Kurt Schrader of Oregon would codify an agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers establishing federally mandated egg production practices. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Bill Donald says the legislation would set a dangerous precedent for allowing the federal government to dictate on-farm production practices. Donald also says the move disregards decades of work the cattle industry has undertaken to develop science-based, voluntary animal care programs.

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

Maybe they’re putting a little too much faith in their governor than they should. Not because he’s a shady character, but because one person probably can’t be held solely responsible for reducing the impact of climate change. Of course that’s now for the courts to decide in Eugene, Oregon after two young girls filed suit against Oregon and Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber for failing to protect the state’s resources from the onslaught of climate change. The girls ages eleven and fifteen had help from parents and an environmental group called iMatter in filing the lawsuit, and while citizens certainly have the right to petition for the changing of laws, it doesn’t mean the courts will help them in their endeavors when it comes to mandating future government actions. The two girls are not just pawns in an environmental group versus government showdown though, both have been known to participate in grass roots protests on environmental issues and are very active with the climate change cause. Perhaps they merely felt Kitzhaber should hold good on his campaign promise to create an energy and climate plan. But that’s a whole other life lesson.

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