by Renee Kjartan
Friends of the Columbia Gorge asks that people write their state legislators to request full funding for the Columbia River Gorge Commission, an Oregon/Washington body charged with ensuring that the priceless wild areas of the Gorge remain free of "development." Friends of the Gorge is at 319 SW Washington St., Suite 301, Portland, OR 97204; michael@focg.org
Ford on defensive about Excursion?
Ford Motor Co. will start selling its Excursion sport utility vehicle in the fall, but it didn't show the monster gas-guzzler at this year's auto shows. Environmentalists have been attacking the 3.5-ton, 19-foot polluter since it was announced. A Sierra Club member was quoted as saying the Excursion "is basically a garbage can that dumps into the sky." The winner of a Sierra Club contest to name this largest of all SUV's called it "The Ford Valdez. Have you driven a tanker lately?"
NARN Exposes "Barbaric World of Egg Production"
The Seattle-based Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN) recently released a videotape of the cruel world of factory-farm egg production. The film exposed a hen "farm" near Lake Stevens that typified the life-long torture that "factory hens" suffer around the country. Such farms can consist of several hundred thousand and even a million birds. The NARN footage revealed cages in sheds where hens are crammed for their entire lives, never seeing the sun or allowed to scratch in the dirt and live a normal life. NARN said the hens are forcibly molted--that is, they are kept in the dark, starved, and denied water "in order to shock their bodies into another egg-laying cycle before they are finally spent and then killed." They are debeaked, a painful process "that involves burning the beak off with a hot iron." And the birds live in battery cages, NARN said, which are 12 x 18 inches in size and hold 4-6 chickens. This is the "industry standard." Many hens die early under this regime, and their bodies are left to fester in the cages. NARN urged people not to eat eggs [or chicken!]. Substitutes for eggs in baking can include mashed bananas or flax seed. A free packet of information on vegetarianism/veganism is available from NARN, 1704 E. Galler, Seattle, 98112; http://www.narn.org