08/03/06 U.S. Senate Approves Offshore Drilling

U.S. Senate approves offshore drilling. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Late Monday evening - the U.S. Senate voted to invoke cloture on offshore drilling legislation - paving the way for a vote on the bill. The Senate did just that Tuesday - voting 71 to 25 in favor of the measure. National Corn Growers Association President Gerald Tumbleson says the nation`s corn growers have been waiting in anticipation for this vote... TUMBLESON: It's something we've been looking forward to and as long as somebody's going to drill it might as well be the United States and move ahead. We need that suppky of gas now so we're looking forward to this offshore drilling. The Senate bill would open 8.3-million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. That`s expected to provide some relief from skyrocketing oil and natural gas prices. It`s the latter - Tumbleson says - that`s especially important to agriculture. Because natural gas is the primary feedstock in nitrogen fertilizer - he says the nation`s corn growers have faced increased input costs for nearly two-years - making it much tougher to do their job. TUMBLESON: That's what we're after here to make sure that we in the United States can supply our people here in the United States with what they need and this make it environmentally friendly and environmentally clean so it's exceptional getting this bill passed. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. Mad Cow Mania is out, Bird Flu phobia is in! and the press is intent on lapping up every story without any attempt at rational reporting . The latest bird flue bogy to hit mainstream press is designed to scare duck hunters out of their blinds. Now it will take a lot more than some weak study, to keep the hunters I know out of camo. While Reuters is reporting the first known cases of direct transmission of virus from wild game bird to humans a closer look reveals that out of the 39 duck hunters studied, only three had evidence of the virus H11N9. Now the bird flu virus happens to be H5N1 so it's a press stretch to suggest that that the hunters are in danger from a virus that is not known to harm humans. These lifelong duck hunters were never asked if they felt sick out in those duck blinds year after year, they obviously weren't sick enough to stop hunting. On the bright side, sensationalized bird flu stories might clear the blinds of the L.L. Bean hunters, leaving more ducks for the diehards. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.