danbacher “A peripheral canal or tunnel that takes large amounts of fresh water from the Delta would devastate families, farmers, and businesses in our community.
Photo of Rep. McNerney announcing the passage of the Healthy Communities Water Supply Act at Buckley Cove Park in Stockton courtesy of McNerney’s Office.
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Representative Jerry McNerney blasts peripheral canal plans
by Dan Bacher
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) slammed state and federal plans to build a peripheral canal in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta during his speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on July 27.
In his remarks, Rep. McNerney also shared his strong support for landowners in the Delta area who are fighting attempts by the State of California to conduct surveys and studies without permission on private land.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to stand shoulder to shoulder with landowners from the San Joaquin Delta who are fighting against the peripheral canal,” said McNerney. “Without permission, the state is sending its employees onto private farmland to conduct the surveys and studies it would need to build a canal.”
“Delta farmers aren’t standing for it,” affirmed McNerney. “Delta farmers have taken their case to the courts, and I urge them to keep fighting for their property rights and the health of our Delta.”
“A peripheral canal or tunnel that takes large amounts of fresh water from the Delta would devastate families, farmers, and businesses in our community. A canal will cause saltwater intrusion, destroy thousands of acres of farmland, and devastate our water quality. It’s time for state and federal agencies to respect the Delta and its people. We won’t tolerate anything less,” he concluded.
Bill Jennings, executive director/chairman of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and board member of Restore the Delta, applauded McNerney for speaking out against plans to build the peripheral canal.
“McNerney is one of the most celebral, educated and thoughtful members of Congress,” said Jennings. “We had no doubt that, after thoughtfully analyzing the facts, he would could come out staunchly against the peripheral canal that would devastate farming, busienss and fishing communities in the Delta.”
“Anyone who values the natural resources of the estuary and Delta communities would inevitably come to the conclusion that a peripheral canal would be the executioner’s’ warrant for this estuary,” said Jennings.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, also praised McNerney for his statement. “Congressman McNerney not only came out in support of Delta farmers today, but he was the first Congressional Representative to outright oppose the peripheral canal. Kudos to Congressman McNerney!” said Barrigan-Parrilla.
A video of McNerney’s floor statement can be viewed at: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=696496882634&oid=215241308510238&comments
McNerney joins a growing coalition of fishing groups, family farmers, Indian Tribes, environmental organizations, environmental justice communities, Delta residents and other Californians opposed to the construction of the peripheral canal/tunnel.
The Brown and Obama administrations, in the footsteps of the Schwarzenegger administration, are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build a peripheral canal or tunnel to divert Sacramento River water to corporate agribusiness and southern California.
As McNerney spoke out against the canal, one of the greatest fish kills in California history continued to take place in the state and federal Delta pumps.
An astounding total of 8,942,347 splittail, 35,435 chinook salmon, 385,392 striped bass, 49,812 largemouth bass, 67,383 bluegill, 66,403 white catfish, 20,178 channel catfish, 91,956 threadfin shad, 166,336 American shad, 1,642 steelhead and 51 Delta smelt were “salvaged” in the state and federal water export facilities from January 1 to July 21, 2011, according to DFG data. However, an array of scientific studies indicate that the actual numbers of fish killed in the pumping facilities is many times larger than the “salvage” counts.
Record amounts of water are being exported from the Delta, even though southern California reservoirs are full and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is selling water for cut-rate prices. For more information, go to: http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/07/22.
The Brown and Obama administrations, rather than exporting record amounts of water and presiding over one of the largest fish kills in California history, should instead work to restore Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations. They should heed the call by the majority of Californians to abandon plans put in place by the worst Governor in California history, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to build a peripheral canal or tunnel.
“The peripheral canal is a big, stupid idea that doesn’t make any sense from a tribal environmental perspective,” summed up Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, who are now working to restore winter run chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Shasta Dam. “Building a canal to save the Delta is like a doctor inserting an arterial bypass from your shoulder to your hand– it will cause your elbow to die just like taking water out of the Delta through a peripheral canal will cause the Delta to die.”
For action alerts and more information on the battle to restore the Delta, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org.
danbacher Independent journalist David Gurney reports some very good news – the Noyo News (http://www.noyonews.net) is back after a malware hack attack!
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by Dan Bacher
The Noyo News, published by independent journalist David Gurney, is again publishing news and commentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, ocean industrialization and other environmental issues.
“We are happy to report that after some effort by web hosters, Google, and yours truly, the malware hack attack on Noyo News is now cleaned up and gone,” said Gurney. “You may now once again visit the site with no worries.”
“The incident is being reported to proper authorities, who may be able to track the perpetrators by their inevitable electronic trail,” emphasized Gurney.
The MLPA “Initiative” creates a “network” of suspect “marine protected areas” that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering. A big oil lobbyist, agribusiness hack, marina developer, real estate executive and other corporate operatives with numerous conflicts of interest oversaw the creation of these so-called “marine protected areas.”
“Meanwhile, please contribute to Noyo News legal fund, in their fight to hold the MLPA ‘Initiative’ and their billionaire corporate backers accountable for all actions committed on the North Coast during their deceptive and illegal ‘public’ process,” urged Gurney.
In April 2010, Gurney, at the request of MLPA “Initiative” executive director Ken Wiseman, was illegally arrested while covering a “working session” of the North Coast Study Region of the MLPA Initiative. His arrest prompted widespread support by First Amendment and civil liberties advocates, including the Newspaper Publishers Association of California and the First Amendment Foundation.
I am very glad that Noyo News is back – and I hope that the perpetuators of the malware hack attack are found and prosecuted.
A PayPal button appears at the site to facilitate donations.
For more information, contact David Gurney at:http://www.noyonews.net.
MLPA Initiative Background:
The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) is a law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, designed to create a network of marine protected areas off the California Coast. However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 created the privately-funded MLPA “Initiative” to “implement” the law, effectively eviscerating the MLPA.
The “marine protected areas” created under the MLPA Initiative fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that oversaw the implementation of “marine protected areas” included a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, real estate executive and other individuals with numerous conflicts of interest. Catherine Reheis Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association who is pushing for new oil drilling off the California coast, served as the chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast.
The MLPA Initiative operated through a controversial private/public “partnership funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The Schwarzenegger administration, under intense criticism by grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribal members, authorized the implementation of marine protected areas under the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
Tribal members, fishermen, grassroots environmentalists, human rights advocates and civil liberties activists have slammed the MLPA Initiative for the violation of numerous state, federal and international laws. Critics charge that the initiative, privatized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, has violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, Brown Act, California Administrative Procedures Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The “science” backing the MLPA Initiative is extremely suspect, since MLPA officials refused to incorporate scientific studies from California Indian Tribes and other scientists who disagreed with the Initiative’s pre-ordained conclusions. MLPA and state officials refused to appoint any tribal scientists to the MLPA Science Advisory Team (SAT), in spite of the fact that the Yurok Tribe alone has a Fisheries Department with over 70 staff members during the peak fishing season, including many scientists. The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force also didn’t include any tribal representatives until 2010 when one was finally appointed to the panel.
