"This bill is a sham"

The House energy bill doesn't thrill Republicans. Witness this from the office of Rep. George Radanovich:

Congressman George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) took the House floor today to express his disappointment in the Democrats’ phony energy bill, written without any Republican input that will continue our dependence on foreign oil. He gave the following remarks:

“When President Bush lifted the presidential moratorium on the OCS, the price of oil dropped $12 per barrel immediately and has been falling ever since.

“I have said many times over the summer that if Congress passes an energy bill that increases the production of domestic energy, the markets will react with lower prices. That is the litmus test that Congress is delivering what the American people want.

“The Democrat energy bill will be received with a resounding thud—it won’t move the price of gas one cent because it provides no incentive for states to increase production.

“Unlike the comprehensive American Energy Act, the bill we are voting on today does not address oil shale production, lawsuit reform, streamlining the nuclear energy process, coal-to-liquid technology, increased refinery capacity or opening ANWR.

“However, the bill does include a drawdown of our strategic petroleum reserve, the fraudulent “use it or lose it” legislation, and an extremely costly renewable energy mandate.

“Maybe this majority ought to go back to suing OPEC to produce more oil because under this bill, that reliance is still there.

This bill is a sham.”

California water - can it come from the ocean?

From the UC Berkeley lecture series found on Youtube:

Desalination, With a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective Heather Cooley: Senior Researcher, Pacific Institute. Long considered the Holy Grail of water supply, desalination offers the potential of an unlimited source of fresh water purified from the vast oceans of salt water that surround us. The public, politicians, and water managers continue to hope that cost-effective and environmentally safe ocean desalination will come to the rescue of water-short regions. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/ccow.html.

Another Chinese food scandal

Defective Chinese baby formula hasn't hit the shores of America, but China' s lax food safety system is getting another workover by Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), chairwoman of the Agriculture – Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement about the announcement that a second baby in China had died in connection with melamine-tainted baby formula. In recent months over 1,200 babies have been sickened – more than 340 infants remain hospitalized, including 53 in serious condition.

“With the death of another Chinese baby from melamine-tainted baby formula, it is clear that the Chinese have a non-functioning regulatory system for ensuring the safety of foods and drugs. It was almost 18 months ago that the Chinese government pledged to improve oversight of its food safety regulations following the discovery that China was the source of melamine-tainted pet food. It now appears that this was an empty promise.

The Door In Question Is Still Ajar

"Not to sound trite but you need someone to sue."

Those are the words of Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler. (Read Tom Karst's post below.) And as long as the FDA & CDC are leaving the door ajar a tiny crack regarding the perceived culpability of tomatoes being the cause of the salmonella outbreak, Marler is going to stick his shiny legal Oxfords in there attempting to keep it open.

And that's the problem. Acheson & the FDA, bolstered by the CDC, continue to play Mickey the dunce about the far-reaching economic & psychological effects of not clearing tomatoes completely, choosing to cover their tails instead. That's the government working for you, my friends. You don't have to work for Lehman Brothers to get the scroogie.

But...I have to tell you, something's not right with the tomato market. The Midwest was hit with 6 to 9 inches of rain over the weekend, and then it moved across Lake Michigan into southwestern Michigan tomato country. Logically, one would think that its bumper crop, probably the nicest Michigan tomatoes in my 30 years in the business, would have taken a hurtin' & we'd have a stronger FOB California market as a result.

Not a chance. If anything, it's a little weaker. Which brings me back to the perception. At least in the Midwest, the backyard crops have been immense. Folks around here had been getting their 5-A-Day on tomatoes alone. So when it comes time, like now, to start having to buy them in the stores again, and if the salmonella question is still being bandied about, it's more than Houston that has a problem.

Later,

Jay

FB: EPA has no legal authority for ag dust

Air quality standards for agriculture are more and more a point of contention: From the Farm Bureau:

The American Farm Bureau Federation today told a circuit court of appeals that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the legal authority to regulate agricultural dust under the Clean Air Act. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument from AFBF and other parties both challenging and defending the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter in American Farm Bureau Federation et. al v. EPA.

Today’s proceedings are the final stage of a two-year legal battle over whether EPA’s NAAQS violated the Clean Air Act. AFBF argued that EPA’s own studies did not show that agricultural dust caused the adverse health effects that trigger Clean Air Act regulation.

Further, said AFBF General Counsel Julie Anna Potts, “The Clean Air Act does not require agricultural dust to be regulated by the same standard as urban particulate matter. Congress requires EPA to support its NAAQS with science and thus far they have not met that burden for agricultural dust,” said Potts.

The American Farm Bureau, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association had 15 minutes today at the proceedings to provide additional argument and answer the panel’s questions.

AFBF initiated the case in 2006 because regulation of agricultural dust would place a burden on producers and the importance of ensuring that stringent Clean Air Act requirements are lawfully enacted.

Other Web coverage

Earthjustice fights EPA compact in Calif.

Yuma Sun: ag dust needs to be controlled

WG: Don't terminate Arnold

From Western Growers, a news release about embattled Governor Schwarzenegger:


IRVINE, CA (September 15, 2008) - Western Growers today announced its strong support for Governor Schwarzenegger and its equally strong opposition to the effort by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) to initiate a recall of the Governor. Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif made the following statement:

“The attempt to launch a recall campaign against Governor Schwarzenegger is senseless and without merit. While we have not always agreed with his positions, we have always known that Governor Schwarzenegger puts the interests of the people of California first. His leadership is marked by a willingness to take on California’s most intractable issues in spite of the political risks that come with them. We are confident that the failure of this ill-advised recall attempt will reconfirm the confidence of the people of California in Governor Schwarzenegger.”

Western Growers was the first major business organization to endorse Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2003 gubernatorial recall campaign


Other coverage of Cali's troubles:
Budget showdown
Better off with Arnold?

One angy man and other immigration raids in Monterey County

Check out this story about a guy protesting in front of a Portland day labor center...

If you think he is angry, read some reader comments about the recent ICE raid in Monterey County, Calif. Here is a sampling from The Californian:

Why report only 15? Because it's about time we started having immigration raids in this county. This is hopefully only the beginning. Considering how long it has been since I heard of an ICE raid in Monterey County, I'm just glad to see they have begun again.
It's time we started enforcing the laws and remove the ready-made population (illegal immigrants) that can be prayed upon by gangs.

Another....

This is great to see ICE in Monterey County cracking deporting illegal aliens, especially ones with criminal records and those that have already disregarded orders to leave. 15 down, another 50,000 to go.


TK: It appears at least some elements of the Monterey County public are pushing back against illegal immigrants, and at the same time, the role of produce companies in their presence in Salinas. Not a good sign for agricultural employers, especially with no Congressional progress on resolving the immigration question anytime soon.