Perdue: Peanut Company Broke a 'Sacred Trust'

Governor Sonny Perdue on Wednesday said a “sacred trust,” was broken between the Peanut Corporation of America and consumers over the spreading salmonella debacle at the company’s Blakely plant.

Perdue and state agriculture officials are circling the peanut wagons and throwing their full backing behind Georgia’s farmers, food producers and distributors.


Governor Sonny Perdue makes a point to the several hundred industry leaders, farmers and legislators at the Georgia Agribusiness Council State Legislative Breakfast, held in downtown Atlanta on Feb. 4, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

At a Georgia Agribusiness Council State Legislative Breakfast, Perdue told several hundred industry leaders:

“When people violate that sacred chain of food safety control, they will be prosecuted and held accountable; it is too important not to…(applause)”

Perdue faced a room packed with a veritable roll-call of food and ag industry officials.

Many worry that the an spreading peanut recall could prompt an already uncertain public could shun other preach-state-grown-and-produced foods.

Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, says his department will reorganize to face the daunting task of better monitoring farms and factories across the state:

”Our inspectors have 16,000 facilities they have to inspect. You have to do that today with 60 employees – it’s impossible to give the necessary coverage that, apparently, we need.”

Irvin says his office will ask the legislature to establish a division to deal exclusively with checking processed foods.

The General Assembly is already mulling a mandatory food-testing bill.

Perdue, however, says no amount of externally-enforced inspections can replace a responsible food industry:

“In the food chain, there is a voluntary compliance: we share a sacred trust of safety among our producers, processors, preparers and servers of food – and you cannot be everywhere at one time.”

House Speaker Bill Richardson holds up a bag of Georgia peanuts, during his comments at the Georgia Agribusiness Council State Legislative Breakfast, held in downtown Atlanta on Feb. 4, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

To make a point of that trust, House Speaker Glenn Richardson held up a small bag of Georgia peanuts as he stood behind the podium:

"One of the fringe benefits of being at the capitol, is [that] the Department of Agriculture brings these Georgia peanuts by (opens foil packet); they leave them at our office. And everybody that comes to our office loves these, and you know what?… (eants a few peanuts) I love Georgia peanuts. (applause).”

And those Georgia peanuts make up almost half of all peanuts used in the United States.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the salmonella-tainted peanut products.

The Battle Continues: Georgia Alcohol Sales on Sundays

The battle continues in Georgia over the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Republican Sen. Seth Harp of Midland filed a bill saying local governments could call elections to let voters decide if they want the sale of beer, wine, and liquor on Sundays. Supporters of the bill believe that the new law would bring in millions of dollars in tax revenue. The measure has not been passed in the last two years of legislation. Georgia Governor Sunny Perdue opposes the sale of alcohol on Sunday.

(AP)

Ga. senators navigate oil drilling fight

Offishore oil drilling platform. (illustrative/AP File Photo)

The last time Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson tried to find middle ground in an emotional policy battle before Congress, they quickly abandoned a bipartisan immigration package after getting pilloried from the right.

Now the Republicans are in the thick of a debate over oil drilling, and they're again fending off criticism from the likes of Rush Limbaugh over a compromise that would raise taxes on oil companies while paving the way for new drilling off the nation's coasts.

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The issue could come to a head this week as energy takes center stage on Capitol Hill and both parties maneuver to take credit for addressing $4-a-gallon gas prices.

Chambliss and Isakson are so far standing firm behind their proposal, which started with backing from a so-called "Gang of 10" and now has 20 Senate sponsors. But as the package gains bipartisan support, it also is drawing complaints from Republicans that it undercuts GOP momentum on the year's most high-profile political issue weeks before the November elections.

Limbaugh has repeatedly ridiculed the proposal on his conservative radio show, saying House Republicans are pressing for much more ambitious drilling while the Senate proposal "basically cuts (them) off at the knees."

The senators also have taken heat from congressional colleagues, including from fellow Georgia Republicans. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta has said the senators are engaged in "procedural pleasantries" while Rep. Tom Price of Roswell contended their approach "doesn't make any sense to me."

Price said it is "foolhardy" to leave vast coastal areas off limits to drilling and said "tax increases on domestic oil production is counterproductive to bringing new American energy to the market."

Chambliss and Isakson dismiss the criticism, arguing that voters want Congress to set aside differences and agree on something that will make a difference - even if it requires trade-offs.

"Usually if the extremes are raising cain, it means you're doing something right," said Chambliss, who spearheaded the compromise along with Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat. "We think if anything is going to get 60 votes, it's going to be our proposal."

The plan would allow drilling 50 miles off the coasts of Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, and the Gulf coast of Florida. It would eliminate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry to generate some $30 billion in revenue, with the money used to offset a massive new investment in alternative energy.

Republicans such as Gingrey and Price want an "all of the above" bill that would allow far more new drilling all along the East and West coasts and in restricted areas of Alaska, without the tax increases on domestic producers.

In years past, any new offshore production would have spawned a firestorm of criticism from drilling critics who argue that it could cause irreversible environmental harm and only a marginal impact on global oil prices. But with voters outraged about the price of gas, the critics appear resigned to allowing some new exploration.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has outlined a package that is more in line with the Senate compromise than with Republican proposals.

Last year, Chambliss and Isakson acknowledged that they backed out of the bipartisan coalition on immigration in part because of a strong backlash from conservative constituents.

While there have been calls of protest on their drilling plan, they say they haven't heard anywhere near the level of concern that they had on immigration and that they won't give up on their "gang" unless the package gets altered.

"As long as nobody tries to shift the policies in the proposal, we're not going to do that," Isakson said. "We've got a solid group."

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News stories about energy issues.

Seven more counties join 'state of emergency' list

Macon: a resident salvages belongings from building in the city's business district demolished by the EF2 tornado that struck early Sunday morning, May 11, 2008. (Josephine Bennet)

Governor Sonny Perdue issued an executive order on Monday declaring a state of emergency in seven additional counties affected by tornadoes that struck on Sunday.

Clayton, Crawford, Emanuel, Glynn, Jenkins, McIntosh, and Twiggs counties were added to Bibb, Carroll, Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson and Laurens, on the state of emergency list.

“We are working together to ensure response efforts reach all Georgians affected by these storms,” Perdue said. “Joint local, state and federal assessment teams will continue to determine the full scope of the damage to businesses, state facilities and residences.”

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) activated the state’s Emergency Operations Plan and an operations center to support the affected counties on Sunday. The Special Operations Center (SOC) will monitor the situation, and operate until further notice.

Perdue toured damaged areas in middle Georgia early Monday morning.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the aftermath of the severe weekend weather.

Group plans tax money petition

An anti-tax group is launching a summer petition drive aimed at what it calls tax relief for Georgians. The Georgia arm of Americans for Prosperity is targeting 142-million dollars that was earmarked for a property tax cut. Instead the money went into the state reserve fund because Governor Sonny Perdue vetoed the tax cut. The group says it hopes to gather hundreds of signatures in a petition to submit to the state’s top lawmakers.

Special session for Genarlow Wilson?

Black state lawmakers are calling for a special session to help free Genarlow Wilson. The three state senators say Wilson’s 10-year prison sentence for having consensual oral sex as a teenager with another teen is too harsh. Today they sent a letter to Governor Sonny Perdue urging him to bring lawmakers back for a special session to change the law keeping Wilson behind bars. A spokesperson for the Governor says since Mr. Perdue just left for a two-week trade mission to Europe, he probably won’t be able to do anything until he returns.

Cagle cool toward special session

Today Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle threw cold water on the idea of a special session aimed at restoring some of the spending vetoed by Governor Sonny Perdue. Many House leaders are bitter over some of the items Perdue vetoed from the 2008 budget. Some have suggested summoning themselves back to Atlanta to try to override some of those vetoes. But Lieutenant Governor Cagle says House leaders haven’t made the case to make such a rare move. Under Georgia law, only the governor may officially call a special session.