July 29 will be the last day for public comment on Governor Jerry Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels.
I urge everybody to join Restore the Delta in a rally marking this date and in raising the ongoing message “NO TUNNELS!”
"We are at a critical time in the BDCP twin tunnels process–we must make our opposition against the tunnels seen and heard throughout the state," according to an announcement by Restore the Delta. "We need all supporters to show up in large numbers to show how unpopular these tunnels really are. Save the date, share our event, and plan to join us."
The twin tunnels won't create one drop of new water, but they will lead to horrendous environmental degradation. The construction of the tunnels will hasten the extinction of
Central Valley Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt and other fish species, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath river.
Brown' "legacy" project will destroy the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas that provides a nursery for many species. It will harm salmon, halibut, leopard shark, soupfin shark, sevengill shark, anchovy, sardine, herring, groundfish and Dungeness crab populations stretching from Southern Washington to Southern California.
The habitat "restoration" proposed under this project will greenwash this project, just like the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative's fake "marine protected areas" greenwashed fracking, pollution and other environmentally destructive activities off the California coast. In a surrealistic scenario, the BDCP will take vast tracts of Delta farmland, among the most fertile on the planet, out of production in order to irrigate toxic, drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and provide Delta water to Southern California developers and oil companies conducting fracking and steam injection operations in Kern County.
The tunnels are being constructed in tandem with the federal government's plan to raise Shasta Dam, a project that will flood many of the remaining sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe that weren't inundated by Shasta Dam. There is no doubt that the tunnels and Shasta Dam raise plans constitute cultural genocide against the Winnemem Wintu and other Northern California Tribes.
I strongly urge you to attend this rally to show the Governor that you strongly oppose the environmental devastation and cultural genocide that will be caused by this plan.
Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, emphasizes the danger that the peripheral tunnels pose to California’s fish, people and rivers.
“The common people will pay for the peripheral tunnels project and a few people will make millions,” says Sisk. “It will turn a once pristine water way into a sewer pipe. It will be all bad for the fish, the ocean and the people of California.”
Here are all of the details:
DATE: Tuesday, July 29th
LOCATION: West Steps of State Capitol, 10th St and Capitol Street, Sacramento
TIME: 11:30 AM
Download and share our flyer. More details to come on speakers and live music.
If you are an organization interested in tabling or speaking, please e-mail Stina@RestoretheDelta.org and/or Javier@RestoretheDelta.org.
To RSVP for the bus ride from Stockton or Oakley or if you have any questions relating to event, please contact Stina@restorethedelta.org or call (209) 475-9550.
Buses will be departing at 9:30 AM. RSVP is required for bus rides and must be submitted by July 21, 2014. A $10 donation is required for bus ride, however we will not turn you away if you cannot make the donation.
BUS DEPARTING LOCATIONS
(1) OAKLEY: Lauritzen Yacht Harbor, 115 Lauritzen Ln, Oakley, CA – parking spots will also be available.
(2) STOCKTON: AG Spanos Parking Lot, 10100 Trinity Parkway, Suite 120, Stockton, CA – parking spots are available in the highlighted areas (see map).
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALL RALLY ATTENDEES
1. Bring snacks and drinks to stay hydrated and energized.
2. Dress appropriately for hot summer weather.
3. Bring handmade signs opposing the tunnels.
4. If you have not made a public comment yet, you still have time to make one: http://restorethedelta.org/...
For more information, go to: http://restorethedelta.org/...