Governor Jerry Brown is on a speaking tour today in Southern California to tout his controversial drought policies and tunnels plan as protesters rally against his support of expanded fracking throughout the state - and as big growers like Stewart Resnick of Paramount Farms expand their water-thirsty almond growing operations.
Brown will attend the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board Meeting today and will later join Austin Beutner, publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, for a conversation on the state’s drought as part of a new event series sponsored by the Times called “The California Conversation.”
The meeting is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:00 p.m. at the Metropolitan Water District, Board Room, 700 North Alameda Street Los Angeles, California 90012, according to a media advisory from the Governor's Office.
As usual for the Brown administration, one of the least transparent administrations in California history, this meeting is not open to the public, but only to "credentialed media."
A group of anti-fracking activists will "birddog" Governor Brown as he greenwashes his drought policies that refused to deal with the biggest water wasters - Big Ag and Big Oil.
"If he really wants to do something about this drought, he'd put a moratorium on fracking," according to a Facebook post announcing the protest.
Then at approximately 6 pm, Brown will also discuss the drought at an event entitled, "The California Conversation: Water in the West," hosted by the Los Angeles Times, University of Southern California, Town and Gown, 665 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Again, this event is "open to invited guests and credentialed media only." More information on “The California Conversation” series and a livestream can be found at latimes.com/TheCaliforniaConversation. KCET, the event’s broadcast media partner, will also livestream at KCET.org/water and feature the event in an upcoming episode of “SoCal Connected” airing Wednesday, June 10 at 8 p.m. on KCET and nationally Thursday, June 11 at 8 p.m. ET /PT on Link TV.
According to the Governor's Office, "For more than two years, the state’s experts have been managing water resources to deal with the effects of the drought and prepare for the next one. In April, Governor Brown announced the first ever 25 percent statewide mandatory water reductions and a series of actions to help save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state’s drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient."
Public trust advocates slammed Brown’s drought plans for focusing on reducing urban and residential water use - and ignoring the state’s most egregious water wasters and polluters, including corporate agribusiness and Big Oil.
“Governor Brown continues to allow big agribusiness and the oil and gas industry to abuse our precious ground and surface water resources unabated while demanding individual Californians and communities must cut back their use by twenty-five percent," said Adam Scow, California Campaign Director for Food & Water Watch. "By refusing to rein in Big Ag and Big Oil, Governor Brown is taking the politically easy way out, but it won’t be easy for Californians when reservoirs and taps run dry. It’s beyond time for Governor Jerry Brown to stop doing favors to special interest at the expense of California."
“The Governor must start by placing immediate sensible limits on groundwater pumping in order to protect our water savings account for generations to come. In the longer term, the Governor must prioritize balancing California’s water budget to ensure responsible and sustainable allocations that work for all Californians. One important step in this process is retiring from production the toxic, arid lands on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that we do not have the water to support and compensate producers fairly for their losses," he noted.
“Finally, Governor Brown must limit the oil and gas industry from using and polluting water and prevent the industry from injecting its toxic waste waster into protected aquifers. Governor Brown should place an immediate ban on fracking and extreme oil extraction as a real step towards replacing fossil fuels with clean and renewable energy," said Scow.
Restore the Delta (RTD) criticized Brown for touting his "leadership" during the drought a month after telling critics of his Delta tunnels plan to ‘shut up."
"This follows on the heels of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s recent op-ed in the LA Times in which she continues to beat the drum for greater flexibility in managing water exports from the north part of the state to the south,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD executive director. “It’s a shame that they both have forgotten the impacts of the drought on the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, which is on the verge of an ecological collapse, or the impacts of the drought on Delta farmers, who have voluntarily cut water use by 25%."
"The pumps have yet to be shut off one day during this four-year drought. Los Angeles water districts said they needed about 700,000 acre-feet of water for health and human safety. Yet, we know that 1.5 million acre-feet have been exported thus far this year, and the pumps continue pumping. Who is receiving that water and for what purpose?" she asked.
To read the entire news release, go to http://restorethedelta.org/...
Governor Jerry Brown is on a speaking tour today in Southern California to tout his widely-criticized drought policies as protesters rally against his support of expanded fracking throughout the state - and as big growers like Stewart Resnick of Paramount Farms expand their water-thirsty almond growing operations.
Governor Jerry Brown will attend the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board Meeting today and will later join Austin Beutner, publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, for a conversation on the state’s drought as part of a new event series sponsored by the Times called “The California Conversation.”
The meeting is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:00 p.m. at the Metropolitan Water District, Board Room, 700 North Alameda Street Los Angeles, California 90012, according to a media advisory from the Governor's Office.
As usual for the Brown administration, one of the least transparent administrations in California history, this meeting is not open to the public, but only to "credentialed media."
A group of anti-fracking activists will "birddog" Governor Brown as he greenwashes his drought policies that refused to deal with the biggest water wasters - Big Ag and Big Oil.
"If he really wants to do something about this drought, he'd put a moratorium on fracking," according to a Facebook post announcing the protest.
Then at approximately 6 pm, Brown will also discuss the drought at an event entitled, "The California Conversation: Water in the West," hosted by the Los Angeles Times, University of Southern California, Town and Gown, 665 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Again, this event is "open to invited guests and credentialed media only." More information on “The California Conversation” series and a livestream can be found at latimes.com/TheCaliforniaConversation. KCET, the event’s broadcast media partner, will also livestream at KCET.org/water and feature the event in an upcoming episode of “SoCal Connected” airing Wednesday, June 10 at 8 p.m. on KCET and nationally Thursday, June 11 at 8 p.m. ET /PT on Link TV.
According to the Governor's Office, "For more than two years, the state’s experts have been managing water resources to deal with the effects of the drought and prepare for the next one. In April, Governor Brown announced the first ever 25 percent statewide mandatory water reductions and a series of actions to help save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state’s drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient."
To learn more about the state’s drought response, visit: Drought.CA.Gov.
Public trust advocates slammed Brown’s drought plans for focusing on reducing urban and residential water use - and ignoring the state’s most egregious water wasters and polluters, including corporate agribusiness and Big Oil.
“Governor Brown continues to allow big agribusiness and the oil and gas industry to abuse our precious ground and surface water resources unabated while demanding individual Californians and communities must cut back their use by twenty-five percent," said Adam Scow, California Campaign Director for Food & Water Watch. "By refusing to rein in Big Ag and Big Oil, Governor Brown is taking the politically easy way out, but it won’t be easy for Californians when reservoirs and taps run dry. It’s beyond time for Governor Jerry Brown to stop doing favors to special interest at the expense of California."
“The Governor must start by placing immediate sensible limits on groundwater pumping in order to protect our water savings account for generations to come. In the longer term, the Governor must prioritize balancing California’s water budget to ensure responsible and sustainable allocations that work for all Californians. One important step in this process is retiring from production the toxic, arid lands on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that we do not have the water to support and compensate producers fairly for their losses," he noted.
“Finally, Governor Brown must limit the oil and gas industry from using and polluting water and prevent the industry from injecting its toxic waste waster into protected aquifers. Governor Brown should place an immediate ban on fracking and extreme oil extraction as a real step towards replacing fossil fuels with clean and renewable energy," said Scow.
Restore the Delta (RTD) criticized Brown for touting his "leadership" during the drought a month after telling critics of his Delta tunnels plan to ‘shut up."
"This follows on the heels of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s recent op-ed in the LA Times in which she continues to beat the drum for greater flexibility in managing water exports from the north part of the state to the south,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD executive director. “It’s a shame that they both have forgotten the impacts of the drought on the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, which is on the verge of an ecological collapse, or the impacts of the drought on Delta farmers, who have voluntarily cut water use by 25%."
"The pumps have yet to be shut off one day during this four-year drought. Los Angeles water districts said they needed about 700,000 acre-feet of water for health and human safety. Yet, we know that 1.5 million acre-feet have been exported thus far this year, and the pumps continue pumping. Who is receiving that water and for what purpose?" she asked.
To read the entire news release, go to http://restorethedelta.org/...
While Governor Brown has mandated that urban water districts cut back 25 percent on their water use, agribusiness has increased its almond tree acreage by 150,000 acres during the current drought. For more information, please read my investivative piece in the East Bay Express: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/...