the news in brief

(MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. – Reading, writing and … global warming?

A Silicon Valley… (MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. – Reading, writing and … global warming?

A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require “climate change” to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught.

The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change.

“You can’t have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn’t deal with the science behind climate change,” Simitian said. “This is a phenomenon of global importance and our kids ought to understand the science behind that phenomenon.”

The state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, Jan. 30 by a 26-13 vote. It heads now to the state Assembly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken numerous actions to reduce global warming, but he has yet to weigh in on Simitian’s bill. Other Republicans in the Capitol, however, are not happy about the proposal.

Some say the science on global warming isn’t clear, while others worry the bill would inject environmental propaganda into classrooms.

“I find it disturbing that this mandate to teach this theory is not accompanied by a requirement that the discussion be science-based and include a critical analysis of all sides of the subject,” state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, said during the Senate debate.

Only two Republicans voted for the bill.

One of the bill’s opponents, Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Modesto, said he wants to guarantee that the views of global warming skeptics will be taught.

“Some wouldn’t view them as skeptics. Some would view them as the right side of the issue,” said Denham, an almond farmer who also runs a plastics recycling business.

“We don’t have complete factual information yet,” Denham said. “From what I have seen, the Earth has heated and cooled on its own for centuries. I don’t know that there’s anything that is a direct cause of that right now, but we can do a better job of cleaning up our planet.”

Simitian noted that his bill wouldn’t dictate what to teach or in what grades, but rather would require the state Board of Education and state Department of Education to decide both. – Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News

(MCT) WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Sunday that a California meat packing company had launched the recall of 135 million pounds of beef – the largest meat recall in U.S. history – following questions about the company’s treatment of cattle that were slaughtered even though they could not stand up.

The recall by the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., in Chino, Calif., covers meat produced since February 2006. USDA officials said that, given the nature of ground beef production and its shelf life, much of the recalled meat has likely already been consumed. Federal authorities said they don’t have solid evidence of illnesses linked to the meat.

Hallmark/Westland sold at least 37 million pounds of meat to the national school lunch program and other nutrition programs run by the USDA during that time, according to department officials. The Hallmark/Westland plant has been closed because of a USDA investigation of the facility’s practices.

“I am dismayed at the inhumane handling of cattle that has resulted in the violation of food safety regulations at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co.,” said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.

USDA officials said Sunday it is unclear how much of that meat has been consumed or already removed from use by federal food programs.

The department also said in its recall notice the Hallmark meat was not available to consumers through retail grocery or meat markets, but instead it was sold wholesale to food companies that used it to make ground beef and products such as burrito filling, meatballs and sausage.

The USDA did not disclose where those food products were sold.

Because of wholesale distribution, it is unclear how many products will have to be recalled. USDA officials stressed that Sunday’s action was a Class II recall, which means that there is a remote possibility of adverse health effects if the meat is consumed.

The beef industry has suffered through a difficult year of recalls, many of them caused by the presence of E. coli bacteria in ground beef. In September, Topps Meats Co. of New Jersey recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger patties after people in New York and Florida fell ill because of E. coli poisoning. Topps later filed for bankruptcy because of that recall, which involved a full year’s worth of production. The largest previous recall involved 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats in 1999. – Stephen J. Hedges, Chicago Tribune

(MCT) MIAMI – Although Congress plans a short-term extension for the soon-to-expire Andean trade benefits program, U.S. importers and producers in the region are increasingly frustrated at the unpredictable nature of last-minute fixes.

Without renewal, the Andean Trade Preferences Program will expire at the end of the month, forcing importers in Miami and elsewhere to start paying import duties on a wide range of goods from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Congress voted last summer to extend the program for just nine months. On Feb. 14, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a new 10-month extension, less than a third of the three years proposed by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y.

“Most businesses don’t just look at their business in two months or four months,” said Christine Boldt, executive vice president of the Association of Floral Importers of Florida, located in Miami.

“They have to look at it long-term,” said Boldt, adding that for the fresh-cut flower industry, the erratic nature of the trade program is causing uncertainty at the busiest time of the year.

Miami serves as the import hub for 85 percent of Colombian and Ecuadorean fresh-cut flowers brought into the United States. The flower imports comprise a large share of the annual volume of imports at Miami International Airport and have created a major local industry.

Boldt said the uncertainty was forcing some flower importers to consider switching to flower-producing countries such as Ethiopia or Kenya, which have guaranteed trade preferences.

For Latin American companies, the uncertainty is equally worrisome.

In Ecuador, John Nevado, president of Nevado Roses, a Fair Trade rose grower, said the duty-free program is vital to an industry that employs some 80,000 people and works on thin profit margins.

“A 7 percent to 12 percent increase in Customs duties would kill some farms,” Nevado said. “We are really dependent on this coming through and at some point need a more stable arrangement between the United States and Ecuador.”

The duty-exemption program, started in 1991 and extended in 2002 as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, was launched as an effort to encourage the region to export legitimate goods and not illegal drugs.

But extension has become a prisoner of the politics of free trade agreements and some animosity in Congress to governments in Bolivia and Ecuador, which have taken tough stances in business disputes with U.S. corporations.

The full House and Senate will take up the trade extension in the last week of February and President Bush must sign it to become law. – Jane Bussey, McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT) WASHINGTON – With their presidential nomination all but settled, Republicans now turn to the question that will dominate their spring: Whom will Arizona Sen. John McCain pick as his running mate?

Party activists are more interested than usual in his pick for three reasons: He needs to shore up support from conservatives, and the running mate is his best chance to do that; the vice presidential nominee could become first in line to win the nomination the next time it’s open; it could come open sooner than eight years given McCain’s age – he’d be 72 on Inauguration Day, the oldest person ever to start a presidency.

“A number of those factors are coming together to make this pick even more important than usual,” said Greg Mueller, a conservative strategist and veteran of the Pat Buchanan and Steve Forbes presidential campaigns.

The name most discussed right now is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who continues to stay in the campaign despite the fact that he almost certainly cannot wrest the nomination away from McCain.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis this week seemed to dismiss the prospect when asked whether Huckabee would bolster the ticket’s chances at attracting change-minded voters.

“I’m not sure how much help John McCain needs being a change agent,” Davis said. “That being said, I think we have other options to look at vis-a-vis the ticket.”

Another frequently mentioned name is South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. More participants interviewed at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington put him at the top of their wish lists than any other.

McCain doesn’t have to announce his pick for months – certainly not until he knows whom the Democrats will nominate as his opponent and perhaps not even until just before the Republican National Convention starts in St. Paul Sept. 1. – Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers